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5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kamenrider2020.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:Kicking evil in the name of love, peace and justice [[LongRunner since 1971]]!]]
7
8->''"Won't you believe in him? Even if there is no God or Buddha... there is Kamen Rider."''
9-->-- '''Kazuya Taki''', ''Manga/KamenRiderSpirits''
10
11The ''Kamen Rider Series'', simply known as ''Kamen Rider'' (also known under the English translated title of ''Masked Rider'' in shows prior to ''Series/KamenRiderDouble''[[note]]The switch from ''MASKED RIDER'' to ''KAMEN RIDER'' being a result of ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' keeping the actual Japanese moniker in order to distinguish itself from the earlier ''Saban's Masked Rider''.[[/note]]), is a franchise of {{toku}}satsu series created by Creator/ShotaroIshinomori and produced by the Creator/ToeiCompany in 1971, and has since then become one of the milestones in Japanese pop culture, greatly revolutionizing the Japanese superhero and action genre, effectively becoming the figurehead of classical superheroes and the idea of "poetic justice" in Japan.
12
13Kamen Rider famously launched the "Second Monster Boom" or "Henshin Boom", a period in TheSeventies that saw the birth of many imitating superhero shows (specifically, that of the HenshinHero variety), moving tokusatsu from the film industry to television. The subsequent domino-effect made Kamen Rider's influences in the current Japanese media deep-rooted. Shows such as its brother-show ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'', and to go even further, ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' (and the MagicalGirlWarrior genre as a whole) wouldn't be possible without Kamen Rider, just to name a few.
14
15The central concept is that a lone hero suffers some great tragedy at the hands of an evil far bigger than they are ([[TheConspiracy usually a large organization with a secret and sinister agenda]]), but rises to [[BadPowersGoodPeople use the technology of the villains against them and as a general force for good]]. While the interpretation of this theme can vary wildly from year to year, every single Kamen Rider series embodies this in one way or another. Another important theme is that [[ReluctantWarrior the hero regrets the act of fighting, but is forced to do so for the sake of humanity]]; this is shown by the iconic "teardrops" coming from the eyes of the helmet.
16
17It typically has a smaller main cast than the relatively more well-known (in the West) ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' (the title of each series refers to a single main Rider instead of ''Super Sentai''[='=]s FiveManBand), but not always. Some series feature huge numbers of Riders, with the most extreme examples being ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' and its 13 Riders, ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' with 18, and ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' with ''over 30'' (with dozens more implied offscreen, though many are short-term {{Red Shirt}}s).[[note]]Although ''Series/KamenRiderHibiki'' has far more if you count ones which were only mentioned, and technically ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' has approximately '''''7 billion''''', as [[Film/KamenRiderWizardInMagicLand the summer movie]] is set in a place where everyone on Earth has Rider magic.[[/note]]
18
19Another thing that Kamen Rider is also known for is for its DarkerAndEdgier themes. Almost half of Heisei and all of Reiwa have dark plots regarding the villains (heck, [[Series/KamenRiderGaim two of]] [[Series/KamenRiderBuild its shows]] are known for being full-on {{Cosmic Horror Stor|y}}ies). In one way or another, this reason is why more adults watch Kamen Rider than kids nowadays.
20
21----
22
23[[foldercontrol]]
24[[folder:Kamen Rider shows]]
25The ''Kamen Rider'' franchise is generally divided into distinct "eras", mainly based on the division of the Japanese era system of naming years after the reigning emperor.
26----
27[[AC:Showa Era (1971-1989):]] The original run of the ''Kamen Rider'' franchise in the 1970s and 1980s comprise the '''Showa Era'''.[[note]]Named after the reign of Hirohito as Emperor of Japan which began in 1926.[[/note]] All series in the Showa Era were developed in some form by Shotaro Ishinomori.
28[[index]]
29* ''Series/KamenRider'' (1971-1973)
30* ''Series/KamenRiderV3'' (1973-1974)
31* ''Series/KamenRiderX'' (1974)
32* ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' (1974-1975)
33* ''Series/KamenRiderStronger'' (1975)
34* ''Series/KamenRiderSkyrider'' (1979-1980)[[note]]AKA ''New Kamen Rider''; originally called simply ''Kamen Rider'', it was intended as a ContinuityReboot, but the idea was abandoned.[[/note]]
35* ''Series/KamenRiderSuper1'' (1980-1981)
36* ''Film/BirthOfTheTenthGatherAllKamenRiders'' (TV special in 1984)[[note]]Featuring Kamen Rider ZX (who debuted in 1982 in a series of magazine stories).[[/note]]
37* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' (1987-1988)
38* ''Series/KamenRiderBlackRX'' (1988-1989)[[note]]Because Emperor Hirohito died in 1989, Black RX technically ends as a ''Heisei'' series.[[/note]]
39[[/index]]
40\
41In the 1990s, while ''Kamen Rider'' wasn't broadcast on television as it had been in the 70s and 80s, a trio of movies was made. Though they were produced after the end of the Showa period (1989), they are generally included amongst the Showa Era series, due to the involvement of Ishinomori during their production. Their inclusion amongst the older generation of ''Kamen Rider'' was made official in the 2014 ''Kamen Rider Taisen'' movie. These three films are:
42[[index]]
43* ''Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' (1992 DirectToVideo movie)
44* ''Film/KamenRiderZO'' (1993)
45* ''Film/KamenRiderJ'' (1994)
46[[/index]]
47----
48[[AC:Heisei Era Phase 1 (2000-2009):]] [[OutlivedItsCreator After Ishinomori's death in 1998]], ''Kamen Rider'' was revived as a television franchise in 2000, beginning the '''Heisei Era'''[[note]]Named after the reign of Akihito as Emperor of Japan, beginning after his father's death in 1989.[[/note]] run of the franchise. Each show still credits Ishinomori as the original creator of ''Kamen Rider''.
49[[index]]
50* ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'' (2000-2001)
51* ''Series/KamenRiderAgito (AGITΩ)'' (2001-2002)
52* ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' (2002-2003)
53* ''Series/KamenRider555 (Φ's)'' (2003-2004)
54* ''Series/KamenRiderBlade (♠)'' (2004-2005)
55* ''Series/KamenRiderHibiki'' (2005-2006)
56* ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'' (2006-2007)
57* ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' (2007-2008)
58* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' (2008-2009)
59* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade (DCD)'' (2009)
60[[/index]]
61\
62[[AC:Heisei Era Phase 2 (2010-2019):]] ''Decade'' had a reduced 31 episode run, and its status as the Heisei Era's MilestoneCelebration allowed the franchise to have a mini-reboot in 2009 in the next 10 years of shows to follow. These shows, referred to in Japan as "Phase 2 Heisei Rider" (第2期平成ライダー) and in some English-speaking circles as "Neo-Heisei", set themselves apart from the prior run of shows by having a different production staff, a different tone, a different broadcast schedule (beginning in August or September rather than January), and a switch from using "MASKED RIDER" to "KAMEN RIDER" in the English portions of the logos.
63[[index]]
64* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble (W)'' (2009-2010)
65* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' (2010-2011)
66* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (2011-2012)
67* ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' (2012-2013)
68* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' (2013-2014)
69* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' (2014-2015)
70* ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' (2015-2016)
71* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' (2016-2017)
72* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' (2017-2018)
73* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' (2018-2019)[[note]]As with ''Black RX'', ''Zi-O'' technically ended its run in the Reiwa era.[[/note]]
74[[/index]]
75----
76[[AC:Reiwa Era (2019-present):]] The '''Reiwa Era'''[[note]]Named after the reign of Naruhito as Emperor of Japan following the abdication of his father Akihito.[[/note]] is the current state of the franchise. After ''Zi-O'' was set to be another MilestoneCelebration it was also publicly advertised as the definitive end of the Heisei Era (not just because RealLife determined that a new Imperial Era would begin in early 2019). This era of the franchise is widely known for [[BreakingOldTrends making huge shake-ups with its established tropes]] and for properly implementing the concept of "Female Riders" back to their ActionGirl status as a part of the main cast.
77[[index]]
78* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne (01)'' (2019-2020)
79* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' (2020-2021)
80* ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' (2021-2022)
81* ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' (2022-2023)
82* ''Series/KamenRiderGotchard'' (2023-2024)
83[[/index]]
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Other Kamen Rider Media]]
87[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
88[[index]]
89* ''Manga/FuutoPI'' (2017, sequel manga set after the events of ''Double'')
90* ''Anime/ShockerDuringTheDay'' (2022, Anime focused on SuperDeformed versions of the Shocker staff)
91[[/index]]
92
93[[AC:TV and Movies]]
94[[index]]
95* ''Film/HanumanAndThe5Riders'' (1974, unauthorized Thai film by Chaiyo Productions of ''Film/HanumanVs7Ultraman'' infamy)
96* ''Film/SuperRiders'' (1975-76, Taiwanese film adaptations)
97** ''Film/TheSuperRiderV3''
98** ''Film/TheFiveOfSuperRider''
99** ''Film/SuperRidersWithTheDevil''
100** ''Film/TheSuperRiders''
101* ''Series/KamenNorider'' (1988-1990, AffectionateParody skits on an unaffiliated variety show; not officially part of the franchise but notable enough to be invited to cameo in ''Zi-O'')
102* ''Film/UltramanVsKamenRider'' (1993 TV special retrospective of both franchises)
103* ''Film/KamenRiderTheFirst'' (2005, movie reboot of the original series)
104** ''Film/KamenRiderTheNext'' (2007, movie reboot of ''V3'')
105* ''Film/KamenRiderG'' (2009, SelfParody TV special)
106* ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'' (2016-2017, DarkerAndEdgier reboot of ''Amazon'')
107** ''Film/KamenRiderAmazonsTheLastJudgement'' (2018, movie conclusion to ''Amazons'')
108* ''Series/KamenRiderBlackSun'' (2022, reboot of ''BLACK'')
109* ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' (2022-present, a CrisisCrossover anthology series that connects all unresolved plot points from Heisei Phase 2 shows starting with ''Double'' all the way to the Reiwa era up to ''Revice'')
110* ''[[Film/ShinKamenRider2023 Shin Kamen Rider]]'' (2023, movie reboot of the original series; part of Creator/HideakiAnno's Franchise/ShinJapanHeroesUniverse; no relation to ''Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue'')
111\
112Nearly all series also have various tie-in episodes and movies; these are listed on the individual series pages.
113[[/index]]
114
115[[AC:Video Games]]
116[[index]]
117* ''VideoGame/KamenRider'' (1993, SNES)
118* ''VideoGame/KamenRiderSeigiNoKeifu'' (2003, Platform/Playstation2)
119[[/index]]
120* ''Compati Heroes'' series: A crossover series with ''[[Franchise/UltraSeries Ultraman]]'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', and related franchises, closely tied to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series and therefore listed on [[Recap/SuperRobotWars that series' recap page]] on this wiki. Titles with their own pages include:
121[[index]]
122** ''VideoGame/GreatBattleFullBlast'' (2012, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]])
123** ''VideoGame/LostHeroes'' (2012, [[Platform/PlayStationVita PS Vita]], Platform/Nintendo3DS)
124** ''VideoGame/HeroesVs'' (2013, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]])
125** ''VideoGame/SuperHeroGeneration'' (2014, Platform/PlayStation3, Platform/PlaystationVita)
126* ''VideoGame/KamenRiderClimaxHeroes'' series (2009-2012 and 2017-2018, Platform/PlayStation2, Platform/{{Wii}}, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]], Platform/NintendoSwitch)
127[[/index]]
128* ''Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride'' (2008-2013), later renamed ''Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing'' (2013-2023) and then ''Kamen Rider Battle: Ganba Legends'' (2023-present) (UsefulNotes/{{Arcade|Game}})
129** ''Kamen Rider Ganbaride: Card Battle Taisen'' (2010, Platform/NintendoDS adaptation)
130[[index]]
131* ''VideoGame/AllKamenRiderGenerations'' series (2011-2012 and 2016, Platform/NintendoDS, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]])
132* ''VideoGame/KamenRiderBattrideWar'' series (2013-2014 and 2016, Platform/PlayStation3, Platform/WiiU, Platform/PlayStation4, [[Platform/PlayStationVita PS Vita]])
133[[/index]]
134* ''Kamen Rider Batton-Line'' (2013-2014, Online)
135* ''Kamen Rider Travelers Record'' (2013, Platform/Nintendo3DS)
136* ''Kamen Rider Summonride'' (2014, Platform/PlayStation3, Platform/WiiU)
137[[index]]
138* ''VideoGame/KamenRiderMemoryOfHeroez'' (2020, Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/PlayStation4)
139* ''VideoGame/RideKamens'' (2024, mobile phones)
140[[/index]]
141
142[[AC:Western Adaptations]]
143[[index]]
144* ''Series/MaskedRider'' (1995-1996, based on ''BLACK RX''; an indirect spinoff of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'')
145* ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' (2009, based on ''Ryuki'')
146[[/index]]
147
148[[AC:Other Media and Related Links]]
149[[index]]
150* ''Series/KamenRiderSD'' sub-franchise
151** ''[[Anime/KamenRiderSDKaikiKumoOtoko Kamen Rider SD: Kaiki!? Kumo Otoko]]'' (1993 anime)
152* ''Manga/KamenRiderSPIRITS'' (2001-2023 manga, featuring Showa Riders up to ZX)
153* ''Magazine/TeleviKun'' magazine, which since the Heisei era has released at least one promotional [[invoked]]BonusEpisode for the series each year.
154* ''Literature/SICHeroSaga'' short stories
155* ''Music/KamenRiderGirls'', a ''Rider''-themed idol group
156* Toys/SHFiguarts action figures
157* Series/SuperHeroTime, the programming block featuring ''Kamen Rider'' along with ''Franchise/SuperSentai''
158* ''Kamen Rider-chi'', a line of ''Kamen Rider''-themed Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}
159[[/folder]]
160
161!!Tropes with their own pages:
162* [[BewareTheSuperman/KamenRider Beware the Superman]]
163* [[DualWielding/KamenRider Dual Wielding]]
164* [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters/KamenRider Humans Are The Real Monsters]]
165* [[PhlebotinumRebel/KamenRider Phlebotinum Rebel]]
166* [[MultiformBalance/KamenRider Multiform Balance]]
167[[/index]]
168
169!!Universal tropes of the series are
170
171[[foldercontrol]]
172
173[[folder:A to M]]
174* AdaptationalVillainy:
175** Several movies include villains that are updated versions of heroes created by Creator/ShotaroIshinomori. At least one movie combined this with AdaptationalHeroism by including characters based on villains from the older show, who turn out to be good.
176** In crossovers, expect at least one AntiHero or AntiVillain monster from a ''Kamen Rider'' show to just be downright evil.
177* AffirmativeActionGirl: The series is usually reluctant to get girls involved in its battles, so any woman that actually does so becomes one of these. They've gradually become more common, with the Heisei era having several token female Riders and the Reiwa era frequently having them as regular cast members.
178* AllThereInTheManual: Especially from the Heisei era on, though how much gets left in the supplementary material varies from series to series. Regardless of the series, expect the supplementary material to be filled with TechnologyPorn explaining each individual part of the Rider's armor and gear. ''Kuuga'' was notorious for this as most of the backstory, ''including the form names'', was in several separate sources.
179* AnimalMotifs: While not as prevalent as ''Super Sentai'', Kamen Rider still has these on the grounds that most of the Showa Riders were themed after insects as well as having many animal monsters and having a few series utilizing motifs based on other animals; ''Ryuki'' does this with its Riders, ''OOO'' with its titular Rider and his forms, ''Build'' with most of the Organic Bottles and Riders, ''Zero-One'' with the Riders and their forms, ''Revice'' with mixing random animals with Legend Rider themes for the Vistamps and the Riders using them, and ''Geats'' with the Riders' animal masks. Even if the season doesn't show at first glance, it is still shown with the animal-based arsenal such as ''Blade''[='s=] Rouze Cards, ''Hibiki''[='s=] Disk Animals, etc.
180* AnyoneCanDie: The series does not shy away from death. Both main characters and background ones can and have died. Not every season features this, but on occasion, you will get people dropping like flies within the last ten episodes. Heck, even ''Fourze'', one of the most idealistic and saccharine series of the franchise, couldn't get away without killing off a few characters or putting them in a [[AndIMustScream worse condition]].
181* ArchnemesisDad: Heisei and Reiwa have a notable tendency to make one of the heroes fight their father near the finale, with seasons like [[spoiler:''Kiva'', ''Double'', ''Wizard'', ''Drive'', and ''Ex-Aid'']] having fathers as the BigBad, while fathers in [[spoiler:''Ryuki'', ''Blade'', ''Ghost'', ''Amazons'', ''Build'', ''Zero-One'', ''Saber'', ''Revice'', and ''Gotchard'']] have [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom inadvertently created]] the conflict in the first place.
182* TheArtifact:
183** For part of the Heisei era, the Rider Kick finishers tended to become this. Every main Rider gets one just out of tradition, but they usually only get used once at the start of the series, and then are immediately forgotten in favor of finishers using the Rider's weapons until around the end of series, when you might get another use of them just to remind the viewers they exist. They do get used a bit more in team-ups or other situations with multiple Riders fighting on the same side, as it's really cool to have multiple Riders kicking the enemy at the same time. However, later Heisei Riders, especially the main ones, have a kick finisher in addition to their weapon based finishers, giving them multiple finishing moves that even occasionally get strung together. [[Series/KamenRiderZiO Grand Zi-O]]'s final finishing move is all 20 Heisei Riders performing their Rider Kicks together.
184** The same goes for the motorcycles. Every lead Rider (and some secondary Riders) still gets one, but they're rarely given any focus. Part of this has to do with increased government restrictions on filming bike stunts. ''Drive'' went ahead and dropped the bike from the main Rider's arsenal for once, getting a car instead (though it did include bikes owned by the show's ''other'' Riders).
185* ArtifactTitle:
186** Some of the main Riders don't actually go by the "Kamen Rider" title in-universe at first. Showa Rider series like ''Stronger'' popularized the practice of 'earning' that title via a crossover with previous Riders (though both he and Tackle are still shown to have chosen their respective titles in their second episode); ''Kuuga'' and ''Agito'' revived this practice in the Heisei era, which got pretty inconsistent after that (''Hibiki'' is the best known aversion). ''Fourze'' plays with it by having one of the {{Secret Keeper}}s be a closet ''Kamen Rider'' otaku who immediately recognizes the hero as one, and Fourze then names their group the "Kamen Rider Club". ''Gaim'' plays the issue oddly, as the common term used there is ''Armored'' Rider until Gaim earns the title from Hongo himself in a crossover movie.
187** For a more literal version, some of the Riders don't use their bikes that much (Drive doesn't even ''have'' a bike); and others like Amazon, Shin, and Hibiki don't wear masks at all, they physically transform into their Rider alter-egos.
188* AssKickingPose:
189** Earlier series usually depend on a series of this in order to transform.
190** There are some exceptions, though: Hibiki and Ryuga do not pose when they transform, for example.
191** ''BLACK'' (later ''BLACK RX'') is pretty extreme with this. Not just transform, they use them [[PunctuatedForEmphasis AS! EMPHASIS!]]
192* BackToBaseForm: Despite the many forms, {{Mid Season Upgrade}}s and {{Super Mode}}s that post-Showa Riders gain throughout their series, you can expect some of them to finish the battle with their base forms instead; with good examples being Den-O, Fourze, Wizard, and Ex-Aid. ''Zero-One'' and ''Saber'' even finished with the hero getting a new EleventhHourSuperpower that has enough strength to confront the BigBad but still ''looks'' like the base form.
193* BadassBiker: It's there in the title, after all. Again, more apparent in the Showa series where more attention was drawn to them. Special mention goes to Lazer from ''Ex-Aid'', as his primary henshin form ''is'' a bike.[[note]]Accel from ''Double'' and Vice from ''Revice'' also can transform into bikes, but their base henshin forms are still humanoid.[[/note]]
194* BadassNormal: In the original series, Taki Kazuya regularly faced cyborgs ''hand-to-hand'' despite being completely human. Riderman (V3's Rival) was, in his original appearance, basically a Mook with a swappable right forearm - he TookALevelInBadass between that and ''SPIRITS''.
195%%** EmpoweredBadassNormal: All of the Showa riders except Riderman. %%Zero-context; needs to be its own example and not a subbullet
196* BareFistedMonk: Most of the Showa Era Kamen Riders didn't use any weapons.[[note]]The only exceptions are Riderman, X, and Black RX.[[/note]] Instead, they relied on good old martial arts and some devices embedded in their body. When Kamen Riders 1 and 2 did use weapons, they were usually stolen from enemy soldiers.
197* BatPeople: As the second ever MonsterOfTheWeek was Bat Man, bat monsters are often the first or second monster to be fought in each new ''Kamen Rider'' series in homage.
198* BeastMan: Accounts for a great many villains and a bunch of heroes as well.
199* {{BFS}}: Most Heisei-era Riders get a sword as part of their powerset. If not at the start, then as part of a MidSeasonUpgrade; or even one at the start ''and'' another with the upgrade. ''Saber'' even used swords as a series motif.
200* BigBadEnsemble: Reiwa era shows seem fond of having at least two {{Big Bad}}s, with one usually being part of the monster group of the season and the other a human. Several Heisei era shows also had multiple Big Bads, but with Reiwa it seems to have become a recurring trend.
201* BigGood:
202** [[Series/KamenRider Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider #1]] (Hiroshi Fujioka) is the Big Good of the Showa Era and, to an extent, all Kamen Riders in general.
203** As the actor for [[Series/KamenRiderV3 Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3]] (Hiroshi Miyauchi) proved easier to secure than Fujioka, V3 takes the lead when he returns in ''Series/KamenRiderX'', ''Series/KamenRiderSkyrider'', the ''Film/KamenRiderSuper1'' movie (voice only) and the ''Film/KamenRiderZX'' TV special, while Hongo appears either as StockFootage or a voice only FakeShemp. Even when Fujioka came BackForTheFinale in ''Series/KamenRiderStronger'', he was preceded by Miyauchi as the first of the returning Riders.
204** The Heisei Era doesn't really have a single unified leader, though [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Tsukasa Kadoya/Kamen Rider Decade]] probably comes closest thanks to his taking up the role of GuardianOfTheMultiverse. In ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiSuperHeroTaisen'' when Decade reverts to his original role as MultiversalConqueror and instigates a war with the Franchise/SuperSentai, the remaining heroes turn to Hongo for leadership. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that "Hongo" is actually Tsukasa in disguise. And ''then'' it turns out that Tsukasa is still a good guy and only pretended to be evil to lure out the real enemies]].
205* BlessedWithSuck: More prominent in Showa Riders (almost all of them are transformed into cyborgs, usually against their will); Gills is a prominent Heisei example. Some Heisei Riders get retconned to invoke this for ''Decade''. Then there's [[BodyHorror Shin...]]
206* BodyHorror: Implied in any season where the Rider is created on the BigBad's operating table. Played completely straight with Shin Kamen Rider, in ways that Amazon and Gills can only hope to accomplish. His face ''broke open!''
207* BoringButPractical: During crossovers, Showa Era Riders are capable of keeping up with their Heisei counterparts. This is due to the fact that while they lack the fancier powers of their modern successors, many of them are heavily modified cybernetic beings with enormous amounts of durability and strength while Heisei Riders mostly consist of ordinary people in PoweredArmor.
208* BreakoutCharacter: If the Secondary Rider or any of the extra Riders are popular enough, they're bound to get their own direct-to-DVD film once the series is over.
209* BreakoutVillain: Quite a few villains have become every bit as popular as the heroes they fought against, and as such have gone on to make future appearances. [[Series/KamenRiderBlack Shadow Moon]], [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Kamen Rider Ouja]], and [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Kamen Rider Eternal]], are particularly notable examples.
210* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Henshin!", and variations thereof.
211** Modified with Amazon, whose transformation cry is his own name: "A-MA-ZOOON!"
212** Mach says "Let's Henshin".
213** Averted with the Riders (actually [[InsistentTerminology Oni]]) in ''Hibiki'', who don't have transformation calls. The lone exception to this aversion is in the second to last episode of ''Decade'', where the alternate reality version of Hibiki uses the familiar "Henshin" cry while transforming.
214* CallingYourAttacks:
215** '''RIDER KICK!'''
216** Every Showa TV series uses this trope.
217** In general, the Heisei and Reiwa Riders themselves don't do this, but their TransformationTrinket does it for them.
218* TheCameo:
219** Traditionally, every year there is usually at least one cameo by one of the suit actors outside of costume (or at the very least, a martial artist from JAE, the martial arts organization where the suit actors come from). This also happens regularly in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' as well.
220** Creator/ShotaroIshinomori made several cameo appearances when he was alive. For more info, see CreatorCameo.
221* {{Camp}}: A lot of the motions in the series are exaggerated in order to provide greater effect. This especially comes into play once the comedy kicks in, with everyone, suited or not, starts exaggerating everything.
222* CannotSpitItOut: Writer Creator/ToshikiInoue includes ''extremely'' heavy doses of this, with [[{{Tragedy}} tragic results]], in every single series or movie he writes. Inoue was the head writer of ''Agito'', ''555'', the second half of ''Hibiki'', and ''Kiva'', plus {{The Movie}}s based on those four shows, ''Kamen Rider The First'' and ''The Next'', ''and'' the {{Non Serial Movie}}s for ''Ryuki'' and ''Blade'', in addition to fill-in episodes on many Heisei Rider series he wasn't head writer of. You can guarantee that if a Rider series or movie involves tragedy resulting from the main characters not wanting to simply sit down and explain the situation to each other, it was written by Toshiki Inoue. Or Shouji Yonemura, who has made a career of copying and [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderizing]] Inoue's style. Of course, if characters ''do'' confront each other over something, either a Rider vs. Rider battle will ensue, or one character will punch the other in the face and leave the room. Neither will resolve anything.
223* CarFu: The series used to be built on ''Motorcycle'' Fu (he's called Kamen ''Rider'' for a reason), including the finishing move consisting of a ramming charge through the monster, known as ''Rider Break''. It tapered off at times, but ''Double'' really brought it back, and the film ''Let's Go Kamen Rider'' has a truly epic moment when [[spoiler:the Great Leader of Shocker's OneWingedAngel was defeated this way courtesy of '''ALL''' the Riders in the entire series. They called it the ''All Rider Break''.]]
224* CatchPhrase:
225** Several characters; by far much more prevalent in the newer series. A fine example is Momotaros' ''Ore, Sanjo!'' (I, have Arrived!) in ''Den-O''.
226** ''Den-O'' as a series, while not the first to have catchphrases, was the most well known for them; and started a trend of just about every Rider after it having a catchphrase (though not always stated by the Rider himself, as is the case with "Kivatte Ikuze" (Let's go Kiva!) wherein Kivat says the phrase instead).
227** Some particularly famous catchphrases besides Momotaros' are Double's "Now, count up your crimes!", Fourze's "UCHU KITAAAAAA!!!" ("Space is heeeeere!!!"), and Woz's "IWAE!" ("REJOICE!") in ''Zi-O''.
228** Most Showa Riders have "Rider ______" as their attacks.
229** ''Heisei Generations Final'' has a humorous moment where Ex-Aid starts of one of his catch phrases, seemingly expecting the other Riders present (Build, Ghost, Gaim, Fourze, and OOO) to join in and finish it together. However, instead they all deliver their own individual catch phrases, resulting in a barely-understandable cacophony of shouting, followed by them all looking at each other while saying "Huh?" "What?" and the like.
230* CentralTheme: Most series have a main subject that it looks at; with the main franchise theme asking what the line is between being a man and a monster. For some specific series themes:
231** ''Kuuga'': Violence
232** ''Agito'': Evolution
233** ''Ryuki'': Wishes, Survival
234** ''555'': Coexistence, Dreams
235** ''Blade'': Fate and Evolution
236** ''Hibiki'': Training, Self-improvement
237** ''Kabuto'': Pride, Identity
238** ''Den-O'': Time, Memory
239** ''Kiva'': Destiny, Love
240** ''Decade'': Journey, Fate
241** ''Double'': Partnership
242** ''OOO'': Greed
243** ''Fourze'': Friendship
244** ''Wizard'': Hope and Despair
245** ''Gaim'': Power
246** ''Drive'': Emotion, Strength, Partnership
247** ''Ghost'': Bonds between People, Human Potential
248** ''Amazons'': Ruthlessness, Survival
249** ''Ex-Aid'': The Value of Life
250** ''Build'': War and Peace, and Science's role in them
251** ''Zi-O'': Future, Predetermination
252** ''Zero-One'': Technology, Free Will, Malice
253** ''Saber'': Stories, Promises, Trust
254** ''Revice'': Family, Inner Demons
255** ''Geats'': Risk and Reward
256** ''BLACK SUN'': Discrimination and Prejudice, and determination against them
257** ''Outsiders'': Benevolence vs. Malice, Free Will vs. Oppression
258* ''Gotchard'': Dreams, Malice
259%% When a new series launches, please hold off from listing a theme for it right away. The concept that the story is about is often not clear until at least the midway point.
260* CharacterTic: Most of the Riders have at least one, especially if Seiji Takaiwa is in the suit. For example, it distinguishes who's using the Faiz gear: a hand flick for Takumi and adjusting the collar for Kusaka. Since the character's face is hidden, this can sometimes be used to show that someone is NotHimself or a quick way to SpotTheImposter.
261* {{Cliffhanger}}:
262** ''Rider'' series are notorious for showing something cool and unexpected in the next episode previews, and then not revealing said cool thing until the last 30 seconds of the episode.
263** The original series (and especially ''V3'') would sometimes show the Rider mere moments from death at the end of the episode... then be doubly awesome in the next one.
264** ''Decade'' ends the last episode on a cliffhanger, with the finale only being available in theaters months later.
265* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: It depends on the show and the person wearing the suit, but the general rule is that Riders are only able to use their powers after transforming -- and if they ''did'' have powers before, the suit makes them even stronger.
266* ConflictBall: When it comes to Rider-versus-Rider battles. The original happened back in ''V3''. Exaggerated with ''Ryuki'', ''Decade'', and ''Gaim''; which have pretty much everyone fighting everyone else. Justified by ''Ryuki'' and ''Gaim'' though, as the antagonists specifically picked the Riders that could escalate conflicts. ''Double'' and the following series largely avert this. Post-''Gaim'' series vary.
267* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: If a Rider's family situation is brought up at all, usually he's this. In some shows, ''V3'' in particular, it's his primary motivation to fight evil. Notably averted in ''Revice'', where Ikki is pointedly a family man and very protective of his parents and siblings.
268* CoolBike: They're not called "Riders" for nothing; every season has at least one nice motorcycle in it. Even when the series broke tradition and denied Drive a bike in favor of a car, his supporting cast (Mach and Chaser) still had bikes. More directly, Kamen Rider Lazer ''is'' a motorcycle in his main form, and Accel and Vice can each turn into one. Vice's bike form goes a step further as he becomes a ''hover''bike.
269* CreatorCameo: Creator/ShotaroIshinomori has been on screen a few times. He's the guy with the afro planting the bug in the beginning of ''Shin Kamen Rider''. He also played the fisherman who tells Kohtaro Minami about Onigashima in the ''Kamen Rider Black'' movie ''Hurry to Onigashima''. And he made an appearance in #84 of the original ''Kamen Rider'' series, playing yet another fisherman who encounters Isogin Jaguar, that episode's MonsterOfTheWeek. Though he looks different from how people might remember him because he doesn't have the afro or glasses.
270* CrisisCrossover:
271** ''Decade'' for the early Heisei Era, ''Zi-O'' for the full Heisei era, ''SPIRITS'' for the Showa Era, and ''Super Hero Taisen'' for Toei's toku as a whole.
272** Phase 2 Heisei era made it a tradition to have crossover movies where multiple Riders band together.
273* CrossoverFinale:
274** Averted in ''V3'', while the original Riders were recurring characters, the finale was left to V3 himself. More closely averted in ''X'', while V3 and Rider 2 returned to assist X-Rider in the latter episodes, all three Riders split up to find the BigBad. Of course, it is X-Rider who takes down the BigBad in the very last episode, which doesn't even feature as much as cameo from the other Riders.
275** The last few episodes of ''Series/KamenRiderStronger'' brings back the previous Riders one by one before all seven assemble to take down the Great Leader. Also counted is the Post-Script RecapEpisode which sees the seven dealing with TheRemnant.
276** ''Series/KamenRiderSkyrider'' brought back the seven Riders as recurring characters mid-season, with all eight assembling again to face the Great Leader in the finale.
277** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'', the final series of the franchise's Heisei era, is a season-long crossover with every past Heisei series.
278* CrossoverPunchline: ''Super Hero Time'' idents of recent years have Rider and Sentai casts meeting and interacting in their respective hang-outs and HilarityEnsues.
279* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', Kamen Rider has numerous character deaths sprinkled throughout each series, has plenty of tragic and nightmarish moments, and tends to be aimed at older audiences. Although it should be mentioned that ''Kamen Rider'' is older than ''Sentai''.
280** The adult-oriented Amazon Prime web series ''Amazons'' is [[BloodierAndGorier more focused on violence and straight-up horror]] that's not for kids anymore. This is why ''Amazons'' was streamed on web service first.
281** There's even an entire darker and edgier toyline, S.I.C., which reimagines the Riders in a more organic form. More recent entries are tamer, but the initial figures in the line were somewhat twisted.
282** ''Black'', already at the dark and gritty end of the spectrum for the series, has a manga adaptation drawn and written by Ishinomori himself that's straight-up terror.
283%%** Specific series that are darker compared to other KR series include the original ''Kamen Rider'', ''[=V3=]'', ''X'', ''Black'', ''Shin Kamen Rider'', ''Kuuga'', ''Agito'', ''Ryuki'', ''555'', ''Blade'', ''Kiva'', ''Gaim'', and ''Build''. %% Explain what makes them "darker" than other Rider series.
284%%** ''Kamen Rider The First'' is this to the original, and ''The Next'' is this to ''The First''.
285* DeadlyGame: These show up from time to time. ''Ryuki'' and ''Geats'' revolved around such competitions that the Riders were participating in, while ''Blade'' had the ''monsters'' involved in one (and the Riders were outsiders interfering with it) and ''Ex-Aid'' had an arc involving one as well.
286* DeadlyUpgrade: When Riders have multiple forms, it's pretty common for one form to be dangerous for the user to use. These include Stronger's Charge Up, Kuuga Ultimate Form, the first version of [=G3X=], the G4 Armour, Gills Exceed ''(subversion)'', the Kaixa and Delta Gear in ''555'', Blade King Form in ''Blade'', Double [=FangJoker=] in ''Double'', OOO Putotyra Combo in ''OOO'', Kiwami Arms and Yomotsuheguri Arms in ''Gaim'', Build Hazard and Grease Blizzard in ''Build'', Zero-One [=MetalCluster=] Hopper in ''Zero-One'', and Saber Primitive Dragon in ''Saber''. ''Fourze'' and ''Drive'', however, have complete inversions where the key to activating their {{Super Mode}}s actually ''[[spoiler:revive Gentaro and Shinnosuke from clinical death]]!''
287* {{Deconstruction}}: Though the series itself has other examples and can vary sometimes. ''Ryuki'', while not as brutal as ''Shin'' really tears into the concept of Mons and what is a Kamen Rider, and ''Kuuga'' itself is a DeconstructorFleet by being a more realistic take on the genre. ''Gaim'' has a ton of deconstructions as well.
288* {{Deuteragonist}}: A common trend in the Heisei and Reiwa eras is that in addition to the lead Rider, there is usually a secondary main character. This is often either the show's secondary Rider and [[TheLancer Lancer]] or the female lead who supports the main Rider, but not always. In cases where the "main Rider" position is shared between two people for some reason (''Den-O'', ''Double'', and ''Revice''), then one is the protagonist and the other is the deuteragonist.
289* DiabolusExNihilo: Nearly every movie villain exists outside of the main series plot until the movie comes around, at which point they interfere with the current plot for about an hour before they're killed off and the story continues without their existence ever being acknowledged in the series, save for an EarlyBirdCameo in an episode close to the movie's release. The notable aversions include Smart Brain (as ''Paradise Lost'' is a BadFuture), Albino Joker (as he's part of the collective of Undead), Orochi (to an extent, as the Orochi in the show was an event, not an actual monster), ZECT (as ''God Speed Love'' is a BadFuture and {{Prequel}}), Dai-Shocker (as they were an enemy during the final few episodes of ''Decade'') and Roidmude 108 (as he's part of the collective of Roidmudes).
290* DivingKick: The Rider Kick, easily the TropeCodifier (if not the outright TropeMaker) in all of Japanese media, and any other that shouts out to it usually is a reference to the Rider Kick.
291* {{Dorama}}: Much as ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' are ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY With Punching]], post-Kuuga ''Kamen Rider'' shows are heavily influenced by {{Dorama}} in terms of tone and characters. They often share cast members with famous ''dorama'', too.
292* DressingAsTheEnemy: A recurring trope, particularly in the Showa Rider series, in the form of our heroes, whether they be the BadassNormal or a Rider themselves, disguising themselves as an enemy {{Mook}}.
293* EarlyBirdCameo: It's become tradition for the tie-in movies to have these; the upcoming Rider will make a cameo in the summer movie, and the secondary Rider will make an appearance in the following ''Movie War'' installment. Starting with ''Wizard'', the upcoming Rider will either make a cameo during the last couple episodes, or those episodes will be an epilogue to the main story that acts as a full crossover.
294* ElementalPowers: Some Riders have them, and here's a notable list.
295** BlowYouAway: Riders 1, 2, V3, Ibuki, and Kenzan.
296** AnIcePerson: Leangle, Tohki, and Rey.
297** MakingASplash: Drake, Abyss, Poseidon, Aqua, and Blades.
298** PlayingWithFire: Ryuki, Hibiki, Wizard, and Saber.
299** ShockAndAwe: Stronger, Blade, Todoroki, and Espada. ''Kabuto'', as a {{Homage}} to ''Stronger'', adds electrical effects to all the Riders' finishers.
300** Riders that employ MultiformBalance like ''Agito'', ''Double'' and ''Wizard'' have elements associated with each of their forms.
301* EvilTwin: The series has a proud tradition of including evil Riders who use recolored versions of the heroes' suits. Some of them are even twins underneath the suits, too.
302** Rider 2 was this, in the ''original'' manga. The original series also included a squad of Shocker Riders.
303** Ryuga was a literal mirror image of Ryuki. Its adaptation ''Dragon Knight'' played with it with A) [[spoiler:the "evil" twin took over the Dragon Knight suit while the "good" twin got the black Onyx repaint]], and B) [[spoiler:both characters were actually good at heart; the "evil" one just made a selfish mistake]].
304** Dark Kabuto.
305** Dark Kiva is arguably an inversion, as he came first in-story and the regular Kiva could be considered his good twin.
306** ''Den-O'' had the rare monster version with Momotaros and Negataros. Of course, the latter also gets to be Nega Den-O.
307** Bujin ("Warrior God") Gaim in the ''Wizard x Gaim'' movie. His homeworld also has "Bujin" twins of the other Heisei Riders, but Bujin Gaim is the only outright evil one. One of the post-series [=DVDs=] also features Black Baron. (While an evil Gaim Yami also shows up in a movie, that one's just regular Gaim BrainwashedAndCrazy.)
308** Drive has two, Dark Drive and Gold Drive; though Dark Drive is a little more elaborate than just a black repaint of the original. [[spoiler:He's also a subversion, as he's really a hero who had his identity hijacked by the villain.]]
309** ''Ghost'' duplicates all three of its Riders in its summer movie, with Dark Ghost, Zero Specter, and three evil alternate-colored Necroms. The series proper also had a series of evil Specter clones running around.
310** ''Ex-Aid'' features a black repaint of the hero from day one with Kamen Rider Genm, though the two eventually get different upgrades that reduce the resemblance. Cronus also shares the same basic suit design as Ex-Aid and Genm, but with extra elaboration like a BadassLongcoat. Brave and Para-DX get evil twins in tie-ins, called True Brave and Another Para-DX.
311** A second, antagonistic Build showed up late in ''Build'' ([[spoiler:though he turned out to be TheMole in the enemy camp and not evil himself]]). Unlike most cases here, he used the exact same armor as the original Build since the "black repaint" concept was already taken by Build's DeadlyUpgrade, Build Hazard.
312** Thanks to TimeTravel, Zi-O manages to be his ''own'' Evil Twin, as his future self is a tyrant with a similar suit only decked out with BlingOfWar. The monsters of the series are also "Another Riders", twisted "twins" of previous Heisei Riders. And then you have a second Woz from an alternate timeline showing up (''both'' Wozes frankly have a claim to be evil, in different ways; but the second one proves to be worse).
313** ''Revice'' involves [[EnemyWithout inner demons]], so there are cases where one's demon becomes an evil twin to the original. Daiji's demon Kagero takes on Daiji's appearance and becomes his twin, even on occasions where they're split into separate bodies (though their Rider forms, Evil and Live, are quite different); while Aguilera has her own demon emerge in a spinoff as Dark Aguilera.
314** ''Geats'' has had multiple villainous knockoffs of Geats in its spinoffs near and after the end of that series, two of which had retooled and recolored versions of Geats' SuperMode (Cross Geats and Dooms Geats) and one that was a warped Another Rider-style monster version of him (Geats Killer).
315%%** Although they had different combat forms, Shadow Moon was Black's stepbrother and evil counterpart.
316%%** ''Decade'' travels to an entire world of evil counterparts.
317%%** In the ''Double'' movie the Cyclone, Heat, Luna, Metal, and Trigger Dopants use the powers normally owned by Double.
318* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: In TheMovie, the main cast will often perform complex fight scenes untransformed, displaying fighting abilities that they've never had before in the TV show, nor will they display them again once the movie's over. This is partly because Rider movies have a greater budget, but also because regularly setting up fight scenes with non-stunt performers on a TV show is difficult, time-consuming, and risky. The very first ''Kamen Rider'' series ran into trouble when its lead actor (who did all his own stunt work) broke his leg, so basically every series since refuses to risk the same thing happening again. (There has, so far, been one exception to this -- Yoko in ''Gaim'' was played by a stuntwoman who did all her own stunt scenes.)
319* EvilerThanThou: You might be a mutant, a demon, a ghoul, a warlock, an alien, or even just a regular human with villainous ambitions. But make no mistake, Shocker will always find a way to be far more terrifying and far worse than you should you ever cross paths.
320* ExponentialPotential: The franchise flirts with it from time to time. The Heisei Riders are often {{Swiss Army Hero}}es with MultiformBalance, and some shows give them more forms than they know what to do with. This is often explained as the forms they do use being more powerful than the ones they don't.
321** Decade could {{Power Copy|ing}} and take on ''any'' of the previous Riders' (non-MidSeasonUpgrade) forms, plus his own SuperMode. As of ''Zi-O'', he has the forms of late Heisei Riders as well.
322** Double could mix-and-match his powers, two slots by three options each, for nine forms plus some {{Super Mode}}s.
323** OOO had ''three'' slots by ''five'' options each for '''125''' forms, before his own SuperMode and additional promotional powersets.
324** ''Fourze'' dialed this back by giving him a large ''arsenal'' - 40 weapons to choose from - but not anything combinable, outside of using two weapons in conjunction (Rocket and Drill for his Rocket Drill Rider Kick, Radar and Launcher so he can actually target things, etc.). His SuperMode could also [[AllYourPowersCombined combine the traits of two weapons]], such as [[MacrossMissileMassacre Launcher]] plus [[KillItWithIce Freeze]] producing a freeze missile launcher.
325** Ghost had ten alternate forms of his own, could borrow five others from Specter and Necrom (though he didn't actually do so), and got a number of additional ones in tie-ins.
326** Ex-Aid and his cohorts (who use the Gamer Driver) have one slot for their base form and a second slot for any of a number of interchangeable powerups, although most of the Riders stick with one set of powerups for themselves.
327** Build uses Double's mix-and-match system, but has several more options - ''thirty'' in each slot as opposed to Double's three; putting his combinations in the hundreds.
328** Zi-O and Geiz have 19 Rider Armors between them that are based on the other Heisei Riders. One of them, the Decade Armor, even serves as a MidSeasonUpgrade and can double up with another Armor to enhance it.
329** The main Riders of ''Saber'' use a three-part system like OOO, though they usually stay with their own designated set and Saber himself is usually the only one to try mixing and matching.
330** Gotchard is another Rider with a two-part system, though it hasn't been confirmed if he can mix-and-match like others can. Even so, just the basic locked-in sets give him 36 base forms and eight MidSeasonUpgrade forms to choose from.
331* FakeCrossover: Most ''Super Hero Time'' idents have the contemporary Riders and Sentai posing side-by-side, while recent years have the casts interacting in their resepective hide-outs, giving the impression that they are all good friends. Of course, this has no canonical bearing on their proper crossovers, if they have them.
332* {{Fanservice}}: Here and there throughout the Heisei shows, mostly in the form of bishonen Riders and leggy female sidekicks.
333** ''Kiva'' is probably the fanserviest show of all, with plenty of short skirts for the girls, shirtless scenes for the guys, and a lot of bathing scenes for the protagonist.
334** In Japan, it is more or less accepted that in the Heisei run of shows, [[ParentService the lead actor is chosen for his appeal to the mothers who watch the show with their children]]. This was even parodied in ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'' in an episode where Misae develops a crush on the actor from a new superhero show Shinnosuke has started watching.
335* FinishingMove: Rider... KICK! (and Punch, Chop, Slash, etc.)
336* FreezeFrameIntroduction: A freeze-frame intro shows up whenever a new suit is introduced, whether it's a new character or an existing one getting an upgrade. Gotta show off all the pretties (so the audience knows to buy the action figure) before the new character kicks some ass!
337* GRatedDrug: A few of the later Heisei series (''Double'', ''Fourze'', and ''Gaim'') has applied a drug metaphor to whatever turns people into the MonsterOfTheWeek.
338* GenreMotif:
339** For a number of years starting with ''Kiva'', each show's background music has a distinctive genre. This also shows up in the releases of the opening and ending songs, which usually get a remix in the style specific to the show. ''Kiva'' has violins, ''Decade'' has both a full orchestra and hard rock, ''Double'' throws in some jazz, ''OOO'''s seems to be ska and ''Fourze'' uses both techno and classic rock. ''Gaim'' has different Riders having different motifs based on their costume.
340** The trend was probably started with ''Den-O'' and the innumerable variations of the battle theme "Double-Action". The standard version (for Sword Form) has a rock feel with guitar, "Rod form" uses horns, "Ax form" has obvious enka/kayokyoku motifs with more strings, "Gun form" has hip-hop stylings, "CLIMAX form" has a mix of all of the other forms' motifs, "Wing form" has an Arabian feel for some reason, "Coffee form" (for Naomi and Airi) is sugary pop, and "Strike form" (from the Trilogy movies for Kotaro and Teddy) has more guitars. Then there's the two variations of "Action-ZERO" for Zeronos with its own musical motif and "Real-Action" for Liner Form's solo fights.
341* GirlsNightOutEpisode: The ''[[Recap/KamenRiderJeanneAndKamenRiderAguileraWithGirlsRemix Girls Remix]]'' three part tie-in to ''Revice'', which focuses on female Riders and other prominent female characters throughout the franchise.
342* GogglesDoNothing: Depending on the show, a Kamen Rider's mask may or may not have its own oxygen supply and air filters, potentially making a Rider susceptible to suffocation, drowning, or poisonous gas attacks.
343* GoldColoredSuperiority: Across the franchise, gold is typically reserved for the more formidible Riders of their respective series, whether they be TheHero's {{Super Mode}}s (Kuuga Rising Ultimate Form, Blade King Form, Kiva Emperor Form, Double [=CycloneJoker=] Gold Xtreme, Wizard Infinity Dragon Gold, Ex-Aid Muteki Gamer, Grand Zi-O) or enemy Riders (Odin, Caucasus, Sorcerer, Mars, Gold Drive). One does not have to be a Rider to use this trope, as the Roidmudes from ''Drive'' can attest to once they reach their Super Evolution. Certain cases of this trope (Wizard Infinity, Roidmudes and Gold Drive) may appear more on the yellow side.
344* GoodIsNotSoft: Like many other Japanese fictional heroes, the Riders are often [[NiceGuy nice people]] who won't hesitate to pummel and kick the [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters of the week]] and their {{Mook}}s to death.
345* {{Gorn}}: The manga of the older series gets quite gory at times...
346* GottaCatchThemAll: A few series involve this kind of plot. ''Ghost'' featured 15 Eyecons that the heroes had to collect, while ''Build'' featured 60 Bottles that everyone was after, ''Zi-O'' involved 20 Ridewatches, and ''Gotchard'' had 101 Chemy {{Mon}}s. ''OOO'' and ''Fourze'' had downplayed versions: In ''OOO'' everyone was after the same Medals and they frequently changed hands, but there was nothing particularly special that would happen if anyone got ''all'' of them. Meanwhile, ''Fourze'' made a point of the heroes needing all 40 Switches to activate something, but they always had the complete set and just had to finish building them; and the villains didn't want them (because they were going after their ''own'' separate set of 12).
347* GottaKillThemAll: Multiple series have premises where a specific number of enemies must be defeated. In ''Blade'' and ''Drive'', it's the 52 Undead[[note]]many of whom are already sealed at the start of the series[[/note]] and 108 Roidmudes[[note]]this includes the mooks[[/note]] respectively. ''OOO'' and ''Fourze'' have specific ensembles to target (five Greeed and twelve Horoscopes) while still allowing for unlimited numbers of lesser monsters. ''Ex-Aid'' plays with this in later arcs, as the protagonists have to clear all the involved games; this usually involves the defeat of the associated Bugster -- but not always, and Bugsters don't stay dead anyway. ''Ryuki'' and ''Decade'' provide the heroes with hit-lists of ''other Riders'' to wipe out, though they tend to balk at crossing that line.
348%%* GratuitousEnglish: Most of it comes from the talking transformation devices. Less frequently used by characters.
349* {{Hammerspace}}: It's not always entirely clear ''where'' on their person the riders keep their belts (and their MerchandiseDriven trinkets for that series) when they're not wearing/using them. If no in-series explanation is given for this, then expect to see the belts getting pulled out of seemingly nowhere on a weekly basis.
350* HeelFaceTurn: While many secondary Riders start out in antagonistic AntiHero roles, since ''Gaim'' it's become more common for characters who were out-and-out villains at first to join the heroes' side later on.
351* HenshinHero: TropeNamer and TropeCodifier. Nearly every rider since Rider 1 has used the cry of "Henshin!"
352* HeroesPreferSwords: Virtually every Heisei Kamen Rider either uses a sword as one of their weapons, or has a primary/ultimate form where a sword is the main weapon. Though how often they utilize said sword is sometimes a matter of contention (such as in ''OOO'').
353* HijackedByGanon:
354** If it's a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover and it's written by Shouji Yonemura, the series' original NebulousEvilOrganization, Shocker, is normally involved. Most notably in ''Decade'', which features the similar organization [[LegionOfDoom Dai-Shocker]], an alliance of villains from across the ''Kamen Rider'' series.
355** In the Showa era, Shocker's Great Leader turned out to be behind any number of evil organizations.
356** Phase 2 Heisei shows produced by Hideaki Tsukada (which, so far, include ''Double'' and ''Fourze''), the villain faction Foundation X is usually involved. The other Phase 2 Heisei shows' staff seem less keen on using Foundation X: They had little to no presence in ''OOO''[='s=] series (despite {{foreshadowing}} in TheMovie of ''Double'') and absolutely no involvement in or after ''Wizard''. In ''Movie Wars [=MegaMax=]'', the BigBad of ''OOO''[='s=] segment is not related to Foundation X in any way, until the very end. They eventually resurface in ''Ex-Aid'', but only in a tie-in special. They finally have a major presence again in the ''Outsiders'' crossover spinoff.
357* HotBlooded: One of the TropeCodifier in Japanese pop culture, in fact.
358* HorrifyingHero: While definitely not the case anymore, during conception ''Kamen Rider'' was designed to be a more fearsome and grotesque figure compared to the comtemporaries at the time, which initially led to the Manga/SkullMan-esque design. Producers thought this would be too intimidating to the kids, so it was toned down to the grasshopper design we all know today. Even still, [[Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue Shin]], [[Series/KamenRiderAmazon Amazon]], and [[Series/KamenRiderAmazons Alpha]] were intentionally made more fearsome both in and out of universe. Then there's [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Tsukasa]], who ''frightens other Kamen Riders.''
359* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: PlayedWith. While the series acknowledges that humans are capable of evil, humanity as a whole is shown to be good and as being something which transcends the physical body, while evil-doers tend to [[TranshumanTreachery forsake their own humanity]] in pursuit of self-serving ends. In the Showa era, the {{cyborg}} heroes had their conversions forced upon them by the villains but sought to hold onto their humanity in spite of it, while the {{Big Bad}}s tended to be inhuman forces which tempted the human villains to consort with it and use cybernetics to transcend their own humanity and rule over their fellow humans. Even in Heisei era series, where monsters are portrayed with more nuance and not just as AlwaysChaoticEvil, humanity as a whole is portrayed as an inherent good and a metaphysical concept through which even inhuman monsters like [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Roidmudes]] can redeem themselves by embracing.
360* HumongousMecha:
361** King Dark from ''Kamen Rider X''.
362** Castle Doran and Powered Ixer from ''Kiva''. (The former isn't quite a mecha, but the intent is there.)
363** The [=DenLiner=] in ''Den-O'' can assume this role too, especially when combined with the [=KingLiner=]. The former is a train, and the latter? A train ''station''. And in ''[[Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai Kamen Rider Taisen]]'', the [=DenLiner=] combines with a ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' CombiningMecha.
364** In the crossover movie with ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'', Wizard's Dragon Phantom becomes one to combine with the Kyoryugers' Kyoryuzin for the [[FinishingMove Zyuden Brave Strike End Rider Kick]].
365* IHaveYourWife: Showed up a lot in early seasons. [[https://www.grnrngr.com/documents/miyake/rider.txt The earliest English-language resource on the show]] even points out the frequency of this in one episode summary ("Shocker once again is using its make-scientists-do-what-it-wants-by-kidnapping-their-relatives strategy.").
366* InTheNameOfTheMoon:
367** Most of the original series does this, but ''Stronger'' took it to the next level by giving the main character a tell-tale whistle whenever he wanted to drop in on the bad guy, and an entire speech - ''from higher ground''! Later, he does this while handing out beatings.
368** Decade also does this when he's about to take down the BigBad of each world he visits. It's usually a PatrickStewartSpeech about why the Rider of the arc is awesome and how Decade has learned from them, followed by a team-up fight.
369* JapaneseBeetleBrothers: Characters with contrasting beetle themes can appear either as heroes or villains, depending on the series. This is most prevalent in ''Blade'' and ''Kabuto'' with the main protagonists, Blade and Garren, and Kabuto and Gatack respectively.
370* {{Kiai}}:
371** Many of the Showa Riders tend to say "'''TOH!'''" while fighting, while Amazon instead has a high-pitched "'''KIIIII!'''" Blade has "'''UEEI!'''"
372** [[Series/KamenRiderFourze Kamen Rider Meteor]] has "'''WAZAA!'''" to match his jeet kun do inspirations.
373* TheLancer: Heisei and Reiwa shows starting with ''Agito'' always have an additional Rider show up to act as a {{Foil}} to the main one, who usually butts heads at first but becomes a dependable ally. These are formally recognized as "Second Riders" or "secondary Riders" (or if there's more than one, then the next is a "Third/tertiary Rider") as the ''Rider'' counterpart to ''Franchise/SuperSentai''[='s=] "Sixth Rangers", but they're not quite the same as how we define the SixthRanger trope.
374* LastVillainStand: Many of the Generals/Commandants/Warlords, whatever they were called in their specific organization, would face down their Rider after he'd slaughtered their armies and ruined their plans enough, transform into a monstrous form with incredible power behind it, and fight the Riders one on one.
375* LawOfChromaticSuperiority: With the start of the Heisei seasons, the production people have tried to make each Rider start out red, but the trope has been zigzagged with a vengeance, with some Riders saving their red variant for a form change (Agito, Faiz, Hibiki, Decade, Double, Fourze, Gaim), while some never do at all (Blade).
376* LetteredSequel: Showa era series has many unexplained letters behind the titles (and Rider names): ''X'', ''ZX'', ''RX'', ''ZO'', and ''J''. Heisei era also has ''W'', ''OOO'' and the unofficial ''G''.
377* LighterAndSofter: Dependent on perspective whether it's happened or not. While it is still darker and has more character deaths than ''Super Sentai'' or western superhero TV series, and the writers generally have stated in interviews a preference to cater to an 'all ages and demographics' audience; the content has been viewed as having gotten more kid-friendly since ''Den-O'', compared to the early Heisei shows that had the monsters brutally killing people in many episodes. This is primarily due to changes in broadcast standards in Japan following a series of brutal murders and terrorists attacks in the late 2000's requiring content in live-action series be less graphically violent, unless it is broadcast past certain times of day. The writers of Phase 2 Kamen Rider have since compensated with that by adding more elements of Psychological Horror, sickness and abuse which makes the content more cerebral-storytelling-focused in its darker elements than that of the prior period's visual violence. To those who that appeals to, the latter half of Heisei phase 2/Neo-Heisei (sans ''Ghost'') and Reiwa series are darker than ever.
378** Zig-zagged with the Showa shows... while they do have more graphic violence, they also have a lot more {{Camp}} and focus on child characters due to differences in storytelling expectations of the eras.
379** In general, Rider shows has some side media that tend to be more comical and zany than the actual series themselves, namely from the yearly Hyper Battle Videos, the Net Movies that occured from ''Kiva'' to ''Wizard'', ''Zi-O's Supplementary Plans'' meta miniseries for its' first 16 episodes, and a few chibi anime specials (which include ''Kamen Rider SD'', ''Den-O''[='s=] ''Imagin Anime'' shorts, and miniseries accompanying every Reiwa show so far).
380* LongRunner: 2021 was the franchise's 50th anniversary, sharing the MilestoneCelebration ''Super Hero Senki'' with ''Super Sentai's'' 45th anniversary. Like [[Series/DoctorWho another popular science fiction franchise]], TheNineties marked a long period of absence during which the franchises' only screen presence was in the form of movies.
381* {{Magitek}}: In ''W'', ''Gaim'', ''Build'', ''Revice'', and ''Gotchard''; both the monsters and the Riders derive their power from a mystical or otherworldly source (the memories of the earth/Gaia Memories in ''W'', Helheim fruit/Lock Seeds in ''Gaim'', Nebula Gas/Pandora's Box in ''Build'', inner demons in ''Revice'', UsefulNotes/{{Alchemy}} and alchemically-created creatures in ''Gotchard''). In the first two shows, the characters must utilize the human-made technology of transformation Drivers to wield the power without mutating or going insane. ''Ghost'' similarly revolves around soul-manipulating technology.
382* {{Masquerade}}:
383** Most seasons include enhanced humans or monsters trying to pass themselves off as normal people until the hero uncovers them. Also the ''whole point'' of the Riders ''needing'' to transform - giving meaning to the title, Kamen (Masked) Rider.
384** Generally averted in a number of Heisei series, though; as while the Riders don't call attention to themselves, they also don't keep [[SecretIdentity Secret Identities]] and don't try to keep up a ruse that the monsters don't exist. A few like ''Kuuga'', ''Double'', ''Gaim'', ''Drive'', ''Ex-Aid'', ''Build'', ''Zero-One'', and ''Revice'' take the aversion further by having the general public aware of the monster attacks; either from the start or the police/government go public once incidents start piling up.
385** Incidentally, ''Double'' has a Masquerade-type Dopant. Instant faceless henchmen.
386* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: ''Decade'' and ''Zi-O'' were series devoted to this, and the former began a tradition of ''Movie Taisen'' winter films (later rebranded ''Heisei Generations'') which crossed the currently airing Rider over with their direct predecessor, often (though not always) featuring a number of other past Riders in supporting roles. The predecessor Rider's storyline will often act as an epilogue for their series, while the current Rider may receive {{Foreshadowing}} of upcoming twists. The ''All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker'' and ''Let's Go Kamen Riders'' films, succeeded by the ''Super Hero Taisen'' films, instead feature ''all'' of the Riders as well as ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and various other Ishinomori creations, including Inazuman, Kikaider (both of them) and Zubat. These films typically forgo a strong central narrative in favor of an UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny.
387* MeaningfulName: Plenty there, if you're really knowledgeable in Japanese. The name of the franchise for instance means "Masked Rider" when fully translated into English, and the heroes [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin wear masks and ride motorcycles]].
388* MerchandiseDriven: Like ''Super Sentai'', individual shows are made to be broadcast across a year, financially divided into quarters of about 12 episodes, each accompanied by a new wave of toys.
389** Anything from multiple Riders to multiple power-ups, season depending. Much more pervasive in the newer series.
390** Many series will have the official toys as their props.
391* MessianicArchetype: Many recent series feature a protagonist who is unafraid to sacrifice themselves for the greater good and displays extraordinary capacity for mercy and {{Forgiveness}}. However, their disregard for their own lives is almost always portrayed as a negative thing.
392* MidSeasonTwist: While not every Rider show has one, Heisei Phase 2 saw a move to stronger central narratives that brought with them this trope. A typical Rider show from this era will have at least two or three twists that change the structure of the central conflict, occurring roughly at the end of each 13-episode cour. The first twist will usually, though not always, coincide with the defeat of the StarterVillain and/or arrival of the secondary Rider, the second with the acquisition of the main Rider's second-strongest form, and the third with the acquisition of their final form. ''Gaim'', ''Ex-Aid'' and ''Build'' are particularly notable for having many more twists than this, but still save their largest for the end of each cour.
393* MidSeasonUpgrade:
394** Heisei and Reiwa-era Kamen Riders normally have at least one upgrade that sits between their initial loadout and their eventual [[SuperMode final form]]. By the end of the era two major midgame upgrades had become standard, with each getting roughly one cour's worth of focus. As of the Reiwa era, at least one of those upgrade tiers will ''itself'' have a two-step process (for example, Zero-One receiving a Shining Hopper upgrade, then enhancing it to Shining Assault Hopper). On rare occasions a secondary Rider will also get one intermediary upgrade, but almost never more than that.
395** Among Showa Riders, Stronger is the only one to get a noticable upgrade in the sense of having a disparate upgraded form. Black RX also gets his Roborider and Biorider forms, though the original for is still used for finishing moves. Other Showa Riders did get upgraded powers over the course of their shows, but they were otherwise permanent with the one hero form they could assume just being stronger than it was originally.
396* {{Mons}}: Noticeably embraced by the Heisei Riders from ''Ryuki'' to ''Ghost'' (though Gouram in ''Kuuga'' can also count). Ranging from Deconstructions (''Ryuki'', ''Kiva'', ''Gaim''), played straight (''Blade'', ''Hibiki'', mechanical ones in ''555'', ''Gotchard'') and parodied (''Den-O''). Several of the late Heisei series shifted somewhat to [[RobotBuddy Robot Buddies]] instead.
397* MonsterOfTheWeek: Or in the case of some shows like ''Kuuga'' and ''Den-O'', Monster of the Fortnight (thanks to two-week mini-arcs). Monsters in the Showa series were almost always altered humans ([[TranshumanTreachery sometimes willingly]], [[TragicMonster sometimes not]]) except for Black RX which used alien warriors instead. The Heisei shows have more variety.
398** ''Kuuga'' has the Gurongi, an ancient demon civilization.
399** ''Agito'' has the Lords, an ancient angel tribe.
400** ''Ryuki'' has the Mirror Monsters, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin monsters who live in mirrors.]]
401** ''555'' has the Orphnochs, the next step in human evolution [[spoiler: or so they think, they're really just revenant zombie-like mutants.]]
402** ''Blade'' has the Undeads, immortal beast creatures representing the organism they're based on.
403** ''Hibiki'' has the Makamou, human-devouring demons.
404** ''Kabuto'' has the Worms, identity-stealing InsectoidAliens.
405** ''Den-O'' has the Imagin, fairy tale-based time creatures.
406** ''Kiva'' has the Fangire, glass-escque [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] demons.
407** ''Decade'' has [[MonsterMash all of the above.]]
408** ''W'' has the Dopants, transformed humans (willing).
409** ''OOO'' has the Yummies, coin-based homunculi.
410** ''Fourze'' has the Zodiarts, more transformed humans (willing).
411** ''Wizard'' has the Phantoms, demons born from despair.
412** ''Gaim'' has the Inves, extra-dimensional invaders.
413** ''Drive'' has the Roidmudes, rebellious androids.
414** ''Ghost'' has the Gamma, evil extra-dimensional ghosts.
415** ''Ex-Aid'' has the Bugsters, video game computer viruses.
416** ''Build'' has the Smash, yet more transformed humans (unwilling).
417** ''Zi-O'' has the Another Riders, humans transformed into monster-ized Kamen Riders.
418** ''Zero-One'', unusually, has two sets; the Magia (hacked androids) and the Raiders (hacked humans).
419** ''Saber'' has the Megid, storybook-based extra-dimensional demons, later derived from transformed humans (unwilling).
420** ''Revice'' has the Deadman, [[EnemyWithin inner demons]] unleashed from humans forming contracts with them. They can fuse with their human hosts into a Phase 2 form though a secondary contract (willing).
421** ''Geats'' plays with this trope by making it ''DeadlyGame of the week'' due to its BattleRoyaleGame focus. As such the enemies the Kamen Riders face each round are a mix of Jyamato monster {{Mooks}}, EliteMooks and an occasional BossBattle, [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman all of which have variations tailored to the goal/theme of the game being played at the time]].
422** ''Gotchard'' has the Malgams, humans merged with a [[GottaCatchEmAll Chemy.]] This can be in the form of one possessing an evil human, or one of the villains using it as a power-up. In case the human does it willingly, but the Chemy doesn't.
423* {{Mooks}}: ''Kamen Rider'' has a more sporadic relationship with this trope than ''Super Sentai''; it's used in the Showa series except for ''Black'', shows up again during the Heisei series with ''Kabuto'', used in some episodes of ''W'', ''OOO'' and ''Fourze'' and then used regularly again in ''Wizard'' onward.
424* MotorcycleJousting: Happens infrequently in the franchise. A prime example occurs during the final battle of Fourze's [[TheMovie movie]].
425* TheMovie: Heisei and Reiwa series have a number of feature film tie-ins. It's grown to the point that there are three a year:
426** The first is a double-feature with the current year's ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' movie in a "summer roadshow" (aka Series/SuperHeroTime: TheMovie (insert year here)).
427** Starting with ''Decade'' and ''Double'',[[note]]or as early as ''Den-O'', which had a couple precursor crossover films[[/note]] there have been annual Christmas-time "Movie War" or "Heisei Generations" movies involving two lead Riders meeting each other.
428** ''Fourze'' introduced ''Super Hero Wars'' films that combine ''Kamen Rider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' (and in one case, ''Series/SpaceSheriffGavan'').
429* TheMusical: There's been a few, including a 2010 show simply called ''Masked Rider Live & Show 2010'' which is a ''Decade'' themed show, but actually focuses on the that show's version of Kuuga and a not-so-evil member of Dai-Shocker who eventually does a HeelFaceTurn. It also features gratuitous appearances by Riders from just about every possible show, from both eras.
430* MythologyGag:
431** The villains of the first two episodes of the original series were cyborgs based on a spider, and a bat. Starting with ''Amazon'', it became an in-joke to do that with the first pair of monsters that appear. ''Blade'' turned its one spider-based [=MotW=] into a recurring villain of sorts, while the first episode's monster was based on a grasshopper, much like the first Kamen Rider was. And the first use of a GiantSpider in ''Hibiki'' paved the way for more [[SerkisFolk massive CGI monsters]], after the one in ''J'' had been all but forgotten.
432** ''Kiva'' had both the spider and bat. The spider was technically the first monster to appear, but wasn't the first MOTW and in fact managed to survive for almost half the series. Being vampire-themed, the bat motif was used for Kiva, [[TransformationTrinket Kivat]], and the [[BigBad King Fangire]].
433** ''Blade'' actually has Kamen Rider Leangle, a spider-themed Rider. We are through the looking glass.
434** ''Double'' and ''Ghost'' have gadgets based on a spider and a bat, among others.
435*** ''Movie War Core'' shows that when Sokichi Narumi first became Kamen Rider Skull, his first opponents were indeed the Bat and Spider Dopants.
436** ''Den-O'', on the other hand, had a bat monster first, and didn't have a spider monster until much later on. Instead, the first few monsters parallel the Contract Monsters of several Riders from ''Ryuki'' (bat for Knight, chameleon for Verde, crustacean for Scissors, crow for Odin, and rhino for Gai).
437** ''Ryuki'' also had an example: The first monster was a spider while the first Rider, Knight, was a bat.
438*** Thinking about it; if Shinji had used his Contract Card on the spider, he and Knight would have become the first (anti-)heroic example of the spider & bat combo.
439** ''Drive'' has its basic monsters come in three varieties: Spider, Bat, and Cobra.
440** ''Agito'' has another gag. Being direct sequel to ''Kuuga'', the first two monsters are jaguar and turtle. Just like ''V3'', the first sequel of Showa series.
441*** Kamen Rider G3/G3-X doesn't transform. He's a BadassNormal in a suit of PowerArmor, similar to Riderman being a BadassNormal who fights monsters using gadgets instead of superpowers.
442** ''Build'' has Night Rogue and Blood Stalk, two long-term antagonists present from the start who have bat and cobra motifs respectively. [[spoiler:The first Night Rogue (Gentoku) subverts it by undergoing a HeelFaceTurn (and adopting a crocodile motif) while the second (Utsumi) plays it straight; meanwhile Stalk (Evolto) ends up becoming the BigBad.]] Spider eventually gets represented by Killbus, the BigBad of the direct-to-DVD post-series movie ''Build New World: Kamen Rider Cross-Z'' [[spoiler:and Evolto's brother]].
443** After running the gamut of belt designs in the Showa era, the Heisei era begins with Kuuga and Agito, whose belts may have been all about the bells and whistles, but in fact maintained design elements from the iconic Typhoon belt - a horizontal oval structure with a spinning circular hub, and two boxy units at the side with some important function built in. In addition to this, the silver straps on Kuuga's belt were a parallel to Hongo Takeshi's original white belt while Agito's red straps similarly mirrored Hayato Ichimonji's belt.
444** The Greeed from ''[[Series/KamenRiderOOO OOO]]'' have belts that look somewhat like golden versions of the Typhoon belt.
445** See AssKickingPose above. Rider-1's right-arm-thrust-to-the-upper-left pose is so iconic that it's been reused several times - every other Showa Rider, and Kuuga, Ryuki, Blade, Den-O in concept art, even Double to a small degree (just Shotaro). That's not counting the examples under ShoutOut. In fact, most of the main Rider poses are variants of it, with one arm extended ''away'' from its body.
446** Mentor characters named Tachibana, in homage to Tobei Tachibana from the original series; ''Blade'' and ''Fourze'' both indulged in this. And in inspiration to Blade's rather memetic use of it, [[spoiler:Tachibana will always be, in one form or another, a traitor]].
447[[/folder]]
448
449[[folder:N to Z]]
450* NonLethalKO: In Heisei/Reiwa series where the MonsterOfTheWeek is a transformed human, [[spoiler:except for ''Gaim'']], the human will fall out of the explosion unharmed, no matter how violently the monster form was defeated.
451* NonSerialMovie: Lots of early Heisei series have them, specifically ''Ryuki'', ''555'', ''Blade'', ''Hibiki'' and ''Kiva''. Later Heisei series tend to fit their movies into the show continuity instead.
452** Subverted in ''Kabuto''. 99% of the movie is set in an AfterTheEnd alternate universe, but at the end [[spoiler: Tendou goes back in time and alters history, creating the TV series timeline. Rather than creating a TimeyWimeyBall, this time travel actually ''explains'' some of the plot points of the series (i.e. how Tendou got the Rider Belt and Hiyori's obsession with drawing bug-winged people).]]
453** ''Movie Taisen Core'' averts this trope and plays it straight ''simultaneously'', being a crossover between ''Double'' and ''OOO''. While it fits neatly into ''Double''[='s=] continuity, trying too hard to work it into ''OOO''[='s=] chronology will just give you a migraine. This is due to very little of the ''OOO'' series having been etched in stone as the movie was being written - imagine a decent fanfic taking place after episode thirty... of a series you've only seen episode one of. That's what the writer of ''Core'' had to do and there was no way for it to work out better than it did; Creator/ToshikiInoue gets MisBlamed for it, however.
454** ''[[Series/KamenRiderDecade All Riders Vs Dai-Shocker]]'' is particularly baffling, because while the events of it don't seem to fit anywhere in ''Decade''[='s=] continuity, it also contains massive revelations about the whole plot, and events from it were mentioned in ''Decade''[='s=] finale movie, which is canon to both ''Decade'' and ''Double''. [[AWizardDidIt The worlds were probably merging.]]
455* NotUsingTheZWord: Many of the Heisei era shows tend to avoid using the term "Kamen Rider" in series, except for the purpose of {{Crossover}}s. This was much more common in Phase 1 than in Phase 2: Phase 2 shows alternated between using "Kamen Rider" and not using it every other year, and now they use it consistently.
456** The only Phase 1 Heisei shows that averted this trope are ''Ryuki'', ''Blade'', and ''Decade'', though ''Kabuto'' played with it:
457*** Since ''Ryuki'' is all about the idea that ThereCanOnlyBeOne Kamen Rider, they have to use the phrase to identify the participants in that conflict.
458*** One of the recurring themes of ''Blade'' is that the Kamen Riders are an urban legend.
459*** ''Kabuto'' never used "Kamen Rider", but instead referred to the technology that powers the Riders as the "Masked Rider System", in English. This, however, is a reference to every Rider in the show (except the Hoppers) having both a Masked Form and a Rider Form.
460*** Since teamups use the term and ''Decade'' is ''about'' teamups, this trope never stood a chance. Decade and company always call other Riders Riders, and his CatchPhrase is to refer to himself as a Kamen Rider who is 'just passing through'. Diend also refers to himself as a Kamen Rider throughout. This series is the ''only'' time you'll ever hear the words "Kamen Rider Kuuga" and "Kamen Rider Faiz" in-show.
461** In the first few Phase 2 series, this trope was either averted or played with by shows that premiered in odd-numbered years, ''Double'', ''Fourze'', and ''Gaim'':
462*** Averted in ''Double''. In the beginning the titular Rider/Riders were just called "Double" by their friends, but the public eventually started referring to the [[MaskPower mask-wearing]], [[BadassBiker motorcycle riding]] hero as a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Kamen Rider"]] and since then all the Riders in the show introduced themselves as Kamen Rider so-and-so. However, Shotaro and Philip are quite protective of the term the people gave them; you have to uphold the ideal to earn the right to call yourself a Rider.
463*** Also averted in ''Fourze'', where past Riders are an urban legend, much like in ''Blade''. Fourze is called just Fourze until Tomoko points and says "A Kamen Rider!" Gentaro adopts the name, and they and their friends become the Kamen Rider Club. (Tomoko is also so far the only one to call Wizard a Kamen Rider thus far; in his own series, Wizard is right back to the Heisei series norm of ''never'' using the phrase.)
464*** Played with in ''Gaim'', where most of the warriors are named "''Armored'' Riders" thanks to a local DJ. Furthermore, the Riders using the Genesis Driver[[note]]A new generation of Rider transformation device in Gaim, intended to replace the Sengoku Drivers that the Armored Riders use[[/note]] as their transformation device are referred as the "''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin New Generation]]'' Riders"[[note]]The New Generation Riders ''never'' say that during the show, as the term only appears via other means such as scans and toys[[/note]]. Furthermore, "Rider" part also has nothing to do with vehicles - the initial public users were from street-dancing groups collectively called "Beat Riders" by that same DJ. "''Kamen'' Rider" is as usual restricted to crossovers.
465** Starting with ''Drive'', this trope is consistently averted.
466*** In ''Drive'', where the Roidmudes coin the term for the one hunting them. Drive himself made a conscious decision to adopt the title in honor of his fallen predecessor.
467*** In ''Ghost'' and ''Ex-Aid'', the title is granted to the protagonists along with their transformation gear. While there's little significance in-universe for ''Ghost'', in ''Ex-Aid'' it has a somewhat more prominent significance early on, as originally only those that have a special surgery to receive immunity to the [[TheVirus Bugster virus]] can transform into a Kamen Rider.
468*** In ''Build'', the term is used for individuals with a Hazard Level 3 and above, in addition to using a driver to transform.
469*** ''Zi-O'' is an anniversary series like ''Decade'' and meant to be the grand finale of the Heisei Era.
470** Even ''Kamen Rider The First'' and ''Kamen Rider The Next'' don't use it. Riders 1, 2, and V3 are Hopper Version 1, 2, and 3 respectively (the V in V3, whose meaning is never addressed in the ''V3'' series, actually stands for 'version', even.)
471* NumericalThemeNaming:
472** The original Kamen Riders are officially designated #1 and #2, and right after them was V3 (Version 3).
473** The Kamen Riders from ''Decade'' to ''Fourze'' all took on number-related names: Decade ('''1'''0), Double (2), OOO (3) and Fourze ('''40'''; "'''four'''-'''ze'''ro"). The following Riders don't have number names, but still seemed to continue the theme: Wizard's belt symbol is a hand with ''five'' fingers and he had ''five'' variations of his main form, while Gaim uses padlocks which resemble a ''6'', and [[JapaneseRanguage "lock" can be pronounced "roku"]] which ''means'' six... but the producer of ''Zi-O'' confirmed that it was never intentional and fans were just looking too hard.
474** Several other Riders took numerical names as well, like ZO (which is shaped like 20, signifying the 20th anniversary of Kamen Rider), Faiz (which sounds like Fives, as in 555, though it's also based on the greek letter Phi), Zi-O (for the 20th Heisei show, similar to ZO), and Zero-One (being the first Reiwa Rider and a MythologyGag to #1).
475* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase: Most series have them. "Awaken the soul!" (''Agito'') "This clinches it!" (''Double'') Saying "Next time on [show name]" is ''rare,'' and not nearly as awesome. Except for the GratuitousEnglish "Open your eyes for the next Faiz!" in the voice of the Faiz Driver. For the GrandFinale, it became "Open your eyes for the ''final'' Faiz."
476* OrangeBlueContrast
477** ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'': G3 the Secondary Rider has blue armor with orange eyes.
478** ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'': Gatack the Secondary Rider is predominantly blue with orange accents, including the eyes.
479** ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'': Rod Form, Urataros' Den-O form and the second Imagin form, is predominantly blue with orange accents including the eyes. Urataros himself has a blue Imagin body with orange eyes.
480** This trope, and the former three examples, are highlighted in ''Test! The Rider Look-Alikes!!'', an installment in the ''Series/KamenRiderDecade: All Riders Super Spin-off'' {{webisode}} series.
481** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Gaim's primary form, Orange Arms, consists of bright orange armor worn over a dark blue bodysuit. In his more powerful Kachidoki Arms form, the orange overtakes the blue in most areas.
482** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' has the main riders with these as the color scheme: Ghost the Main Rider is the Orange, while Specter the Secondary Rider is the Blue, and the both of them have contrasting kinds of personality.
483** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' gives Emu a LiteralSplitPersonality form, Mighty Brothers XX (Double X), that represents the two sides of his personality: [[RedOniBlueOni the teal-colored left side is him as a compassionate doctor while the orange right side is him as a fun-loving professional gamer]]. The colors also serve as {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:if you invert them you get red and blue -- the colors of Kamen Rider Para-DX's two forms, hinting that Parado is Emu's personal Bugster. After this is revealed Parado takes over the orange half of the Mighty Brothers since he was "Genius Gamer M" all along.]]
484* PaletteSwap: For budget reasons, monsters in the new-gen series are sometimes given repaints or differently colored wardrobes to make "new" monsters. Sometimes happens with Riders too, particularly the movie-only Riders. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] on occasion, where the monsters are representatives of the same type or species - an example being that the first three monsters Agito fights are essentially siblings.
485* ParentService: As is common in the rest of the toku genre, ''Kamen Rider'' casts attractive young men in the lead roles for the benefit of the moms in the audience. This casting practice is PlayedForLaughs in ''Zero-One'', where it's a RunningGag that Gai is OlderThanHeLooks -- he claims to be "eternally 24" (which is close to his actor's actual age), but other characters will embarass him by revealing that the he's actually age 45.
486* PeopleInRubberSuits: The extent to which they are rubbery depends on the series and design, not so much on the era. Played straight with the Mooks from ''The First'' and ''The Next.'' they wear gas masks and corresponding uniforms, being quite creepy, until you find that [[NightmareRetardant they still shout "yee!" a lot]].
487* PhantomZone: A few series have this. Most notably, battles in ''Ryuki'' take place in the mirror world.
488* ThePresentDay: Most ''Kamen Rider'' series take place in the year they air. ''Kiva'' is unique in that it is partly set in 1986, 22 years before its present day of 2008, while ''Den-O'' and ''Zi-O'' also use TimeTravel to hop up and down the timeline. Averted in ''Agito'' as it states that it took place in a 2-year TimeSkip after the conclusion of ''Kuuga''.
489* ProductPlacement:
490** Suzuki makes all the bikes in the Showa era and Honda in the Heisei and Reiwa eras, with a few exceptions in the latter (Gas Gas made the bikes in ''Kuuga'', an A.L.I. Technologies hoverbike was customized for ''Revice'', and while main rider Shotaro/W rides a Honda in ''Double'', second rider Ryu Terui AKA Accel rides a red Ducati named Diablossa). Also, all Riders tend to wear Shoei helmets.
491** Creator/{{Sony}} has had a few collaborations where their products stand in for those made by an in-universe company, with the [[Platform/PlayStation4 PlayStation VR]] in ''Ex-Aid'' and their Aibo line of {{Robot Dog}}s in ''Zero-One''.
492** ''Ex-Aid'', being themed on video games, also notably cross-promoted Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment games on a few occasions (thanks to Bandai being the series' toy manufacturer).
493** Going in the other direction, ''Magazine/TeleviKun'' magazine regularly promotes ''Kamen Rider'', and ever since the Heisei era started they've distributed a "Hyper Battle" [[invoked]]BonusEpisode DVD each year (and for a few series they've released ''multiple'' Hyper Battles). These episodes in turn often reference ''Magazine/TeleviKun'', and many later series include promotional TransformationTrinket collectibles featured in the episodes and packaged with the magazine. In ''Saber'', said trinket is a toy version of ''Magazine/TeleviKun'' itself.
494** The Reiwa era has added Toys R Us cross-promotions to the list, with the retailer distributing giraffe-themed collectibles for ''Zero-One'' and ''Saber'' based on its mascot Geoffrey Giraffe; and a "Toysaurus"[[note]][[PunnyName "Toys(au)RUs"]][[/note]] one for ''Revice''.
495* RealLifeWritesThePlot: After the "Rider Break" incident in ''Skyrider'' (see that show's entry on this for details), it's been a requirement that anyone who plays a main or secondary Rider has to have a motorcycle license and prove they are proficient in riding one, to avoid further accidents.
496* RealTime: While the episodes aren't filmed in a real time format, dates in the ''Kamen Rider'' universe sync up with the broadcast dates. (For example, when Japan is celebrating New Year's, the ''Kamen Rider'' characters are celebrating New Year's too. The same with Christmas, often with ...amusing... results.) ''Ghost'' in an exception, taking place in much less time since a 99-day time limit is a plot point: [[spoiler:that time runs out after 12 episodes and is then reset, and the second 99 days spans three times that many episodes. It ultimately covers a six-and-a-half-month timeline that's aired over a year.]]
497* RedEyesTakeWarning
498** Inverted with ''Kuuga'': Kuuga's [[SuperMode Ultimate Form]] having red eyes is a good thing, since it shows that Yusuke is in full control. When they turn [[SuperPoweredEvilSide black]], however, '''that's''' when you should start running. Similarly, in ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'', [[spoiler:Eiji's eyes turning purple (whether he's transformed into OOO or not) is a sign that the Purple Core Medals have taken over and he's about to [[TheBerserker go berserk]]]].
499** In the Hyper Battle DVD ''Ryuki vs. Agito'', Agito's EvilCounterpart is identical to his Burning Form with the exception of his eyes, which are colored red rather than yellow.
500** ''Fourze''[='s=] BigBad was initially known as "The Red-Eyed Man", even in official in promotional materials, before they revealed his true identity: [[spoiler:Mitsuaki Gamou, the chairman of the high school attended by all the heroes]].
501** In ''Wizard'', Haruto's Inner Phantom, [=WizarDragon=] appears in human form within his Underworld, looking identical to Haruto but distinguished by his red eyes. Of course at that point, [=WizarDragon=] was the TokenEvilTeammate who aspired to break out of Haruto's body.
502** In ''Gaim'', humans who transform into Inves get glowing red eyes, this fate befalling [[spoiler:Ryoji Hase. Gaim himself, Kouta Kazuraba, starts to get red eyes as a sign that the Kiwami Lockseed is making him more than human.]]
503** ''Drive'' inverts this trope; Shinnosuke's eyes flash red, both in human form and as Drive [[SuperMode Type Tridoron]], to indicate that [[TheMentor Mr. Belt]] is borrowing his body.
504** ''Ex-Aid'': [[TheHeart Emu]]'s eyes flash red when he shifts into his gamer self - [[PsychopathicManchild M]]. Also, when a victim of Game Disease gets glowing red eyes, it means that the [[TheVirus Bugster]] is taking over. Yes, these two things overlap.
505** ''Build'': [[spoiler:Ryuga]][='s=] eyes glow red when he is stressed over having to helplessly watch his teammates get beaten nearly to death. It's because his emotions react with the remnants of the EldritchAbomination residing in him. Said abomination, [[BigBad Evolto]], can change his eyes red at will while in human form.
506** ''Zero-One'': [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Humagears]]' eyes go from blue to red when they're infected by the villainous [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=]'s [[TheCorruption virus]] and [[FaceHeelTurn go berserk]]. In #9 it's [[LampshadeHanging explicitly pointed out]] by TV pundits discussing the crisis, but this gets thrown out the window due to [[spoiler:A.I.M.S.' Yua Yaiba]] leaking footage of [=MetsubouJinrai=]'s Assassin to the media; because he was ''built'' evil and not reprogrammed, he has blue eyes all the time. [[spoiler:[=MetsubouJinrai=]'s Horobi and Jin are also evil Humagears without red eyes.]]
507* RippleEffectProofMemory:
508** ''Ryuki'' & ''Den-O'': this is critical to the plot in the latter.
509** Played with in ''Zi-O'', where the changes to the timeline cause by the Another Riders don't take effect until after the villains go back and change things, but then everyone remembers the altered timeline after they change it back. Then seemingly averted in the finale [[spoiler:when Sougo becomes Ohma Zi-O and uses a CosmicRetcon to merge the Time Jacker timeline with the main one, so that the events of the series never occur.]] After that, no one seems to remember any of it. [[spoiler:Except Woz and Swartz, before the team gets their Ridewatches and memories back.]]
510* TheRival: It all started with Riderman in ''V3'', and now the Heisei era is rife with many a FaceHeelTurn and HeelFaceTurn.
511* RobotBuddy: It's common for Phase 2 Heisei Riders to have little helper robots. However, how much focus they actually get moves from being almost like pets (''OOO'', ''Fourze'', ''Wizard'') down to just being the form of form-chage equipment that the Riders use (''Gaim'', ''Ex-Aid'', ''Zero-One'' in Reiwa). ''Kiva'' and ''Kabuto'' had them in Phase 1 as well, while ''Hibiki'' had a similar concept with the Disk Animals but weren't robots.
512* RoguesGallery: A franchise-wide one comprised of ''Rider'' villains who proved [[BreakoutVillain popular enough]] to keep appearing outside their home series, including [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Shocker]], [[SerialKiller Takeshi Asakura]], [[EvilutionaryBiologist Foundation X]], [[KillerGameMaster Kuroto Dan]] and [[OmnicidalManiac Evolt]].
513* RuleOfPool: Any time a Rider has a fight near a large body of water, ''especially'' if it's on a bridge, odds are good that someone's going for a swim.
514* ScarfOfAsskicking: Another part of the Rider package, almost as iconic as the kick, the belt and the bike. Unfortunately, dropped starting with ''Black'' in favor of just armor - apparently, it's [[CapeSnag too easy for the suit actors to get tangled up in scarves]].
515** Lampshaded or subverted, depending on your point of view, when the EvilTwin from ''Blade'' is only distinguishable by the fact that he's wearing a scarf.
516** Completely inverted in ''Hibiki'', where the Mooks are the ones wearing the scarves.
517** Ryotaro Nogami, the protagonist of ''Den-O'', occasionally wears a red scarf (though really a muffler) as part of his street clothes in what is assuredly a ShoutOut to his precursors; however, he doesn't really do any ass-kicking while wearing it. When Momotaros possesses people during the Den-O arc of ''Decade'', they gain a ridiculously long red scarf.
518** Returned with Double, who has a silver scarf while the Cyclone [=GaiaMemory=] is active. In fact, the scarf ''is'' a part of W's suit - we just don't always see it because it isn't tied around his (their?) neck(s); instead, it sticks out through an opening at the back of the suit.
519*** Along with [[TheRival the Nazca Dopant]], who sports V3-style double scarves.
520*** Kamen Rider Skull has the more traditional Showa-style scarf around his neck, reflecting his being "old-school". For an added touch it's tattered and worn as one would expect for a skeleton-themed Rider.
521** Before ''W'', Another Agito of ''Agito'' incorporated a muffler into his design.
522** Like Double, Build's Ninja half-body has a scarf. A few other half-bodies are similarly attired, such as Pirate having a shoulder cape while UFO has streamers coming out of the shoulder armor to create the effect of a tractor beam.
523** Woz in ''Zi-O'' has one as part of his regular clothes, where he's perfectly capable of kicking ass. It also has weird powers and can be weaponized. From the same series, Kamen Rider Shinobi and Woz's Shinobi Ride Armor also have a scarf.
524** Kamen Rider Zero-Two has a scarf-like extension on the collar of his armor, specifically meant to evoke Nigo along with the now red gloves.
525** Kamen Rider Kenzan from ''Saber'' has a scarf as part of his ninja motif.
526** Tying into his kitsune theme, Geats has a foxtail-like scarf.
527** Gotchard wears a white scarf in his various forms.
528* ScarabPower: Scarabs (specifically the JapaneseBeetleBrothers) readily show up in the franchise, due to ''Kamen Rider'' having a preference for insect themes.
529* SchizoContinuity: The "Bait-And-Switch" style. Toei takes a flexible approach to inter-season (and with ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' crossovers, inter-series) continuity. Sometimes different ''Rider'' series take place in alternate universes (as in ''Decade''); sometimes they don't. [[MST3KMantra Don't waste too much time thinking about it.]]
530* ShapeDiesShifterSurvives: A trope shared with sister franchise ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Normally, a Rider who takes overwhelming damage will detransform. However, there will sometimes be climactic fights where a character manages to stay in their transformed form through HeroicWillpower, instead suffering [[BrokenFaceplate helmet damage]] which exposes part of their face. Alternatively, if a Kamen Rider is in their SuperMode or transformed into another Kamen Rider like ''Decade'' can do, sufficient damage can knock them down to their base form.
531* SharedUniverse: ''Kamen Rider'' has a... [[SchizoContinuity flaky relationship]] with the concept.
532** The Showa era seasons from ''Kamen Rider'' to ''Black RX'' are all confirmed to take place within the same continuity, as evidenced by the presence of characters like [[TheMentor Tobei Tachibana]] in multiple series, as well as the Showa Riders all making appearances in each others' seasons.
533** While Toei has been ambivalent on confirming it, ''Agito'' has enough nods to ''Kuuga'' that one could reasonably infer that the two share a universe.
534** ''Kabuto'' is shown to share a universe with the ''Film/KamenRiderTheFirst'' reboot movie, if TheCameo of its Takeshi Hongo in episode 14 is anything to go by.
535** The beginning of the Neo-Heisei era saw an attempt to create more of a coherent continuity between the seasons in that era, with recurring plot elements like [[GreaterScopeVillain Foundation X]]. [[AbortedArc This ended up not panning out]]. Still, several of the [[CrisisCrossover Movie Wars]] fit neatly enough into the continuities of the series involved to imply a shared timeline between most of the Neo-Heisei shows, including ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderWizardAndFourzeMovieWarUltimatum Movie War Ultimatum]]'' and the first ''[[Film/KamenRiderGenerationsDrPacmanVsExAidAndGhostWithLegendaryRiders Heisei Generations]]'' film. ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFinalBuildAndExAidWithLegendRiders Heisei Generations Final]]'' also fits in pretty well if one assumes it takes place right before the TimeSkip in ''Ultimatum''.
536** ''Zi-O'' wholly parodies any notion of a shared universe between the Heisei Rider shows, having it be that [[spoiler:all 20 Heisei Riders took place in their own separate timelines, which were forcibly merged together by the BigBad but reset back into their own separate worlds at the end of the series.]] Up until this gets {{retcon}}ned by ''Revice''.
537* SignatureMove: RIDER KICK! Also RIDER PUNCH! and RIDER CHOP!, but these tend to get dropped in the newer series.
538* SixthRanger: A staple of the franchise from the Heisei era onward (starting with ''Agito''), an additional Rider is always introduced at the beginning of the show's second quarter. They are typically anti-heroes, some start as straight-up villains, but they mostly all take the side of TheHero in the end. (Keep in mind, though, that the fandom-equivalent term "Second Rider" isn't ''quite'' the same; it refers to a show's [[TheLancer Lancer]] Rider who often overlaps with this as a late-added cast member but could also have been part of the show from the beginning.)
539* SliceOfLife: The first half of ''Hibiki'' in particular has elements of this, as does ''Kuuga''.
540* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: ''Kamen Rider'' is a well-known instance of "Men Are More Equal". There's always a female lead who is one of the Riders' closest allies, but for all her importance she stays in a support role. Women who take combat roles as Riders themselves are rare, and they usually get killed off or suffer some other indignity that male Riders don't have to. That said, it has improved over the course Heisei Phase 2, and the Reiwa series so far are making great efforts to have at least one female Rider: ''Zero-One'' has a female Rider who was part of the initial group of Riders (though she ends up becoming a FauxActionGirl), ''Revice'' is the first time a female Rider is a main character, and ''Gotchard'' introduces the first female secondary Rider.
541* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: While the franchise definitely isn't without dark moments, overall it leans in favor of idealism as opposed to cynicism. While [[HumansAreBastards humans can be cruel]], the majority of humans are usually good and humanity is portrayed as a fundamentally positive ideal.
542* SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat: Your average MonsterOfTheWeek will usually just be a Localized Threat or at most City Threat, while the BigBad can be anywhere on the scale, although it tends to cap out at Planetary Threat (but not always).
543* SoLastSeason: This ends up being So Last ''Mid-''Season, given the way the series starts fresh every year. Once an upgrade is acquired, it's used all the time, while previous upgrades aren't effective enough and stop being used. {{Enforced|Trope}} by being MerchandiseDriven; you want to keep advertising the new toys and not waste time on the stuff that most fans would have bought already. This started to wane off around ''Build'' due to both the powers remaining relevant for plot reasons and because new lesser power-up items were still being introduced. ''Zero-One'', despite not actually having much reason to do so, still has the characters use their base and first power-up forms fairly often, switching to their stronger forms as necessary.
544** ''Revice'' is one particularly notable example of this phenomenon, as it gets to the point where the villains are able to produce {{Mooks}} stronger than most of the heroes' forms, which leads the heroes having to unlock a new SuperMode to fight them. And then the villains create another monster way stronger than anything the heroes have, which leads to them having to unlock ''another'' new SuperMode to keep up and so on.
545* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Every season has at least one name or term, likely more, with an odd spelling that English speakers aren't likely to deduce from its pronunciation.
546* StatisticallySpeaking: Toei publishes statistics for nearly every Rider during the run of their show, which since the beginning of the Heisei era has been standardized as a measurement of punching power and kicking power in tons, jump height in meters, and running speed by how fast the character can run a 100-meter dash. More often than not, [[LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics these numbers are totally arbitrary nonsense]] and have little to no bearing on the character's actual performance in the show.
547** As an extreme example, Kamen Rider Poppy (a side character from ''Ex-Aid'' who rarely fights) boasts numbers far higher than Kamen Rider Gaim Kiwami Arms (not just a main character's SuperMode, but in-series he's treated as approaching demigodhood).
548** This is particularly obvious during crossover events where characters will be presented [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe as capable as the plot demands]], regardless of how lopsided their stats say a match up should be. Especially if they happen to be newly debuted.
549* SuperMode:
550** Started with Stronger's charged-up form, but doesn't become a staple until the Heisei series, where it's commonly referred to as an 'Ultimate Form' in honor of Kuuga's final form. While some Riders, Kuuga in particular, went through several intermediate forms, the SuperMode is the bare minimum (eg. Ryuki and Decade).
551** In an interesting twist, Decade's Super Mode has the power of summoning duplicates of the other Riders' Super Modes to fight alongside him.
552** Teamups or TheMovie even give a SuperMode ''on top of'' the Super Mode. Rising Ultimate Kuuga, Den-O Super Climax, Double Gold Xtreme, Fourze Meteor (Nadeshiko) Fusion States, OOO Super Tatoba Combo, Wizard Infinity Dragon (''Gold''), Drive Type Special, Ghost Tenkatoitsu Damashii, Ex-Aid Creator Gamer, Build [=Cross-ZBuild Form=], and Zi-O Oma Form.
553* SuperSpeed: Seen in several seasons, but taken to ridiculous extremes in ''Kabuto'' - ''expected'' extremes, if you know your Ishinomori.
554* SwissArmyHero: A series staple in the Heisei and Reiwa eras (though it showed up a few times in the Showa era as well), the lead Rider and some secondary Riders can usually switch between various forms with different abilities.
555* TakingTheBullet: The show's go-to method for giving someone a heroic death: have them die doing a body-block for somebody helpless.
556* ThemeMusicPowerUp: When the current EndingTheme kicks in, you know the battle is on. That, and older series had actual ass-kicking battle themes - ''several'' of them - which gets used to magnificent effect in the ''SPIRITS'' manga.
557** For the Heisei series, the "ending theme" isn't played over the end credits (they don't use end credits, with the exception of ''Kuuga'' and ''Hibiki''), but rather it's used as ''the'' battle song (and they often serve as {{Image Song}}s as well). The shows from ''Agito'' through ''Kabuto'' played around with this, but they had two or three songs throughout the whole series run. However...
558*** ''Den-O'' used multiple non-final non-SuperMode forms in the first half of the series, and with them came a different arrangement of the ending theme, and that's not including the second Rider's theme song, TheMovie form and villain theme songs, the SuperMode theme song, and an ImageSong for the hero's sister and the BridgeBunny. All but two of these were just remixes of the first theme song, bringing us to a grand total of 9 ending themes, and that's not including the songs for the sequel movies.
559*** ''Kiva'' followed the trend and had different theme songs for each of Kiva's forms, but ended up never using one of the songs at all despite promoting its existence during the show's broadcast. They also had the cast perform the ending themes and on various concept albums; the lead actor fronted a rock band made up specially for the show, the main secondary Rider's actor covered his own theme song, and anyone else whose character got in suit for the secondary Rider joined up on a concept album about the secondary Rider.
560*** ''Decade'' was fairly minimalistic, only having two themes, one for each Rider and sung by the actor. Instead, the music team went all out producing three albums putting their own style on the 9 previous series theme songs.
561*** ''Double'' went off the rails like ''Den-O'', having multiple songs for multiple forms, secondary Riders, cast members, and {{The Movie}}s, but it was implied that all of the ending themes were actually InUniverse pop songs, performed by bands played on the official radio show. One song (performed by the two cast members who are singers from Music/{{AKB48}}) was even tied into a short story arc.
562*** ''OOO'' gives a full, awesome song to ''every'' full Combo, plus Tatoba Combo, plus Birth, and all of them take on a deeper meaning when you know the characters: they're {{Image Song}}s as well!
563*** Starting with ''Fourze'', the show has mostly dialed back the song-after-song nature of the franchise, with ''Ghost'' remarkable in that it had ''no'' EndingTheme whatsoever. ''Ex-Aid'' is returning back to the use of ending themes...even though for several episodes in a row they completely omitted the opening sequence entirely, only to have to promise that with the 2nd half of the show they would have a brand new sequence.
564*** ''Drive'', ''Build'', and ''Saber'' are a little odd in this regard, since they have "collective" theme songs that represent the entire Rider Team as it is near the end of the series; for bonus points, ''Drive''[='s=] "Spinning Wheel" and ''Saber''[='s=] "Rewrite the story" are sung by the Riders' actors.
565* ThemeNaming: Following ''Decade'', all of the belts in Kamen Rider are known as "Drivers", such as the [[Series/KamenRiderDecade DecaDriver]], the [[Series/KamenRiderDouble W Driver]], the [[Series/KamenRiderOOO OOO Driver]], and so on. Previously, all of the belts had unique names, starting with Kamen Rider 1's Typhoon and ending with Kiva's Kivat.
566* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The central concept of ''Ryuki'', ''Gaim'', and ''Geats''. Also featured in ''Kuuga'' and ''Blade'', interestingly between the bad guys. ''Kabuto'' forced this point somewhat with its BFS, and ''Agito''... erm, suggested it would happen. ''Decade'' does this with entire worlds.
567* TieInNovel: The Heisei Riders got their own series of tie-in novels, variously serving as prequels, sequels, untold stories, or alternate takes on the original shows. In terms of content, it's a mixed bag; most are disregarded by fans for trying to be DarkerAndEdgier ([[spoiler:''[[Series/KamenRiderBlade Blade]]''[='s=] focuses on a now-immortal Kenzaki trying to kill himself, while ''[[Series/KamenRider555 555]]''[='s=] depicts Kusaka raping Mari and ends with him getting his limbs hacked off by Kiba and being taken in by a stalker a'la ''Literature/{{Misery}}'']]), while ''[[Series/KamenRiderDecade Decade]]''[='s=] is full of glaring continuity errors ([[Series/KamenRiderDenO Momotaros]] being portrayed as [[BoisterousBruiser quiet and polite]] is just the tip of the iceberg). The ones that are generally well-regarded seem to be official canon, or at least referenced in official media; ''Series/KamenRiderDrive''[='s=] novel is the first part of a story that concludes in Mach's stand-alone movie, while [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Philip's Kamen Rider Cyclone]] form appeared in the video game ''Super Climax Heroes'' as an AssistCharacter for Shotaro's Kamen Rider Joker.
568* TimeTravel: ''Den-O'' and ''Zi-O'' have this as one of their series' main themes; and ''Kabuto'' and ''Kiva'' also feature it to an extent. Riders 1 and 2, V3, Black, and Agito also meet up in the game ''Seigi no Keifu'', sorta. It appears to some degree in ''many'' series; ''OOO'' managed to get into time shenanigans with nary a time train in sight in its ''three'' movies (and one ''with'' 'em, in the ''All Riders'' movie).
569* TokenHeroicOrc: At least one of the protagonists is often a member of the MonsterOfTheWeek species or some other nonhuman who is, for whatever reason, fighting for good. Sometimes openly, sometimes they're a TomatoInTheMirror, sometimes they just draw power from the same source in a way that makes them functionally identical to the monsters.
570* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Seems to be a recurring theme starting around the Heisei era:
571** ''Blade'': Kotaro loves milk so much that he keeps a mini-fridge stocked full of it.
572** ''Kabuto'': Tendou liks tofu, and both he and Kagami love Hiyori's mackrel miso.
573** ''Den-O'': Owner and Station Master with their fried rice and pudding, which they make into a game.[[note]]They have a little toothpick flag placed in the top of the food and try to eat as much as possible without disturbing it; when the flag falls, they're done eating regardless of how much is left on the plate. When they meet up, the compete on a single plate and whoever topples the flag loses.[[/note]] The Taros also love pudding, as well as Naomi's coffee (but they're the only ones). Inverted with Yuto, who has a Trademark ''Least'' Favorite and hates shiitake mushrooms.
574** ''Kiva'': Otoya likes Yuri's Omurice and Megumi likes seafood.
575** ''Decade'': Inverted; Tsukasa despises sea cucumber, which becomes a RunningGag after it's brought up; ''Decade'' features an inordinate number of sea cucumber-themed monsters.
576** ''Double'': Akiko likes takoyaki and everyone love ramen.
577** ''OOO'': Ankh has his popsicles and Date loves his oden. Kougami loves ''making'' birthday cakes, but he's never shown eating them (usually assigning subordinates to do it for him).
578** ''Wizard'': Haruto always orders plain sugar donuts from his favorite bakery. Nitoh is unusual because his trademark is mayonnaise, which he slathers on literally everything he eats.
579** ''Drive'': Shinnosuke eats milk candies when he's slacking off.
580** ''Ghost'': Like Ankh, Alain's first human food (takoyaki) quickly becomes his favorite.
581** ''Ex-Aid'': Hiiro can often be seen using his surgery skills to cut up cakes, pastries, and other confections.
582** ''Saber'': Like Hiiro, Rintaro has a huge affinity for sweets, especially chocolate eclairs.
583* TrainingFromHell: Again one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s in Japan. The original Kamen Rider duo had to undergo intense training under their friend and mentor Tachibana in order to develop new techniques and tactics against the formidable enemies.
584* TransformationTrinket:
585** While its gimmicks may vary from year to year, the transformation belt is an important part of any Rider's arsenal. Heisei series vary pretty widely in what they actually do.
586** The sole exception from Showa series is ''Amazon'' whose trinket is actually a bracelet (later ''two'' bracelets) on his forearm.
587** ''Hibiki'' ditches the traditional belts in favor of using handheld items and braces to transform (indicative of the fact that ''Hibiki'' [[DolledUpInstallment wasn't originally intended to be a Kamen Rider series]]). Some of their weaponry is belt-worn, though.
588** ''Kabuto'' is another series that generally shies away from belts. While Kabuto, Gatack, and the Hoppers do use them, the rest of the Riders don't: Drake transforms using a gun, Sasword uses a sword, and [=TheBee=] and the movie Riders (Hercus, Ketaros and Caucasus) use armbraces.
589** Drive mixed it up a little with armbrace as an integral part of the device, acting as a receiver for the sub-trinkets denoting individual forms and weapons, but still had the belt.
590** Some Riders in ''Zero-One'' used weapons that could be mounted on the belt buckle, though it wasn't required to place them there to transform. The main ones were Vulcan and Valkyrie using guns and Jin using a dagger (for his late-series Burning Falcon form). These were retooled for other Riders in spinoffs.
591** All of the Riders in ''Saber'' used swords to transform; some in conjunction with a belt but others used the swords alone.
592** One-off Riders with non-belt trinkets include Diend from ''Decade'' and the supporter Riders from ''Geats'', who used guns; and Necrom from ''Ghost'', who had an armbrace.
593* TrueCompanions: ''Eventually.'' But this ain't ''Franchise/SuperSentai''; the Riders almost never begin on the same page, and often even come to blows when neither is "evil" in the working-for-the-villains sense. Even ''Blade,'' where we've got a HeroesRUs organization, managed to have four agendas for four Riders. However, sometimes the main Rider and his supporting cast are this from the start. ''Hibiki'' and ''Saber'', for the most part however, play this straight as Riders from those shows belong to organizations fighting for the greater good to protect innocents while having almost immediate teamwork when at least two are shown together.
594* VillainsActHeroesReact: A {{tokusatsu}} staple. Generally, the villains send forth the MOTW with an EvilPlan OnceAnEpisode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them.
595* VoiceClipSong:
596** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnZfWEltH6Q This]] not only takes the transformation sounds, but '''other''' voices from the various ''Kamen Rider'' shows.
597** OOO's ''official'' {{Image Song}}s are these; their names are homophones for his Combos ("Shauta" becomes "Shout Out", for example), and the belt's transformation announcements are worked into the songs themselves.
598* TheWorfEffect:
599** Since they peak lower and sooner than the main character, this happens a lot to secondary Riders. But ''Kamen Rider'' is kind of unique in that the main hero himself will usually get stomped before getting a big new power-up to make his comeback more impressive.
600** The ''Kamen Rider'' fandom even has its own term for this: "getting rolled", which refers to how a particularly bad defeat will be marked by the Rider getting hit so hard that he rolls along the ground (often losing his transformation in the process).
601[[/folder]]

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